Case finding in the clinic: refractive errors.

The detection of refractive errors includes effective screening programmes in the school or community. However, the lack of human and other resources often prevent such programmes from occurring. Therefore, patients with many conditions, both refractive and nonrefractive, present at clinics. The separation of these patients into refractive and non-refractive conditions is important in the good organisation of eye care clinics, as members of the eye clinic team can then carry out their different duties more effectively.