A quantitative analysis of eye movements during the cover test--a preliminary report.

The aim of this study was to carry out quantitative analyses of eye movements during the cover test on a group (n = 57) of asymptomatic emmetropes. Eye movements were recorded during an automated cover test while subjects fixated a distance (3.4 m) and near (0.4 m) target. There was a significant difference between the amplitude of phoria measured after 2 s of occlusion compared to 10 s (P < 0.01). The mean phoria after 10 s of occlusion was 0.1 degree (eso) for distance fixation and 1.6 degrees (exo) for near fixation. The distribution was approximately normal for both distance and near fixation but the standard deviation was greater for near (2.0 degrees) than distance fixation (1.4 degrees). The pattern of eye movements during the recovery phase was more complex than is often assumed, in many cases consisting of a variety of saccadic and vergence movements involving both the covered and 'fixing' eye. The latency of the first recovery movement was significantly shorter for exophoric than esophoric deviations (P < 0.01) and the latency of some recovery movements were very short (< 150 ms).