Non-contact tonometry by assistants

The ability of assistants to screen for elevated intraocular pressure (IOP) with the non-contact tonometer was evaluated. They had ten minutes of instruction with the instrument prior to the study. The estimates by the assistants correlated highly with those of the optometrists. The patients' responses were favorable. It follows from this study that an assistant with minimal training can reliably perform IOP screening with the non-contact tonometer under the supervision of an optometrist.