Purpose. To determine in a series of comprehensive screenings those functional and anatomic anomalies that may threaten an athlete's vision or may interfere with sports performance, career longevity or future quality of life. Methods. Screening of a total of 1116 football players (799 professional and 317 college athletes) for, among others, history, vision (including stereo and color), visual field, and examining the anterior and posterior segments. Results. Fifty-one percent of both the professional and college players had some kind of abnormality in at least one eye. If refractive errors were not included, 23% of the professional and 26% of the college players demonstrated tissue pathology or function loss. Selected findings (out of 799 and 317, respectively): Abnormality histor Refr. error Reft, error ' ]olor vision Stereo Retina 4-4-4 corrected uncorrected vision Professional 6% 17% 19% 6% 14% 9% College 2% 14% 17% 8% 21 % 19% Family or personal; disease or trauma Conclusions. Though most players were not aware of their eye problem, more than half of both the professional and college players screened had some kind of abnormality. These findings underscore the need for regular eye examinations of athletes.
