DEFINITION:
A sensorimotor anomaly of the binocular visual system, characterized by a tendency for the eyes to diverge at distance and near relative to the normative data.
SIGNS AND SYMPTOMS:
The signs and symptoms associated with exophoria may include, but are not limited to, the
following:
- reduced efficiency and productivity/diminished accuracy/inconsistent work product
- diminished performance with time on task
- diplopia (ICD: H53.2)/tendency to close or cover one eye
- inaccurate/inconsistent depth judgment
- pain in or around the eye (ICD: H57.13)
- headaches (ICD: R51)
- difficulty sustaining near visual function
- avoidance of visually demanding tasks
- inaccurate eye-hand coordination
- asthenopia (ICD: H53.149)
- transient blurred vision
- loss of place, repetition, and/or omission of words &/or lines of print while reading
- transpositions when copying from one source document to another
- abnormal postural adaptation/abnormal working distance (ICD: R29.3)
- spatial disorientation
- photophobia (ICD: H53.149)
- inconsistent visual attention/concentration and/or awareness
- general fatigue (ICD: R53.83)
- dizziness/vertigo (ICD: R42); especially during/after sustained visually demanding tasks
- motion sickness (ICD: T75.3XXA)
- incoordination/clumsiness (ICD: R27.8)
- awareness of the need for volitional control of eyes
DIAGNOSTIC FACTORS:
Exophoria encompasses one or more of the following diagnostic findings:
- higher than expected exophoria at distance and near
- low positive fusional vergence ranges/facility and/or flexibility
- poor vergence stability
- exo fixation disparity
- steep base-out component of forced vergence curve