ABO Optician — All Questions
← Back to practice12 questions
A lensmeter (focimeter) is used to measure what?
- a.Corneal curvature
- b.Pupillary distance
- c.The power, axis, add, and optical center of a lens✓
- d.Frame temple length
The lensmeter reads a lens's sphere and cylinder power, cylinder axis, add power, optical center location, and any prism. It is the primary verification instrument in an optical lab and dispensary.
A pupillometer is designed to measure what?
- a.Base curve
- b.Lens power
- c.Monocular and binocular pupillary distance✓
- d.Segment height
A pupillometer measures the distance between the pupils, providing accurate monocular and binocular PD readings and can be set for distance or near, improving accuracy over a simple PD ruler.
Under FDA regulations, all dress eyewear lenses sold in the United States must be what?
- a.Impact resistant (capable of passing the drop-ball test)✓
- b.Made of glass
- c.Tinted
- d.Polarized
The FDA requires prescription and non-prescription dress lenses to be impact resistant, historically demonstrated by the drop-ball test, to protect wearers from lens shattering into the eye.FDA impact resistance
The FDA drop-ball test for impact resistance drops what onto the lens?
- a.A metal rod
- b.A rubber mallet
- c.A 5/8-inch steel ball from 50 inches✓
- d.A hammer
The drop-ball test drops a 5/8-inch (15.9 mm) steel ball weighing about 16 grams from a height of 50 inches onto the lens; the lens must not fracture to demonstrate impact resistance.FDA impact resistance
ANSI Z80.1 is the American National Standard that specifies what?
- a.Tolerances and requirements for prescription ophthalmic (dress) lenses✓
- b.Frame color standards
- c.Building fire codes
- d.Contact lens solutions
ANSI Z80.1 sets the recommended tolerances and requirements for prescription dress eyewear, including allowable deviations in power, cylinder axis, add, prism, and marking, guiding lens verification.ANSI Z80
Occupational and safety eyewear in the U.S. is governed by which standard?
- a.ANSI Z87.1✓
- b.ANSI Z80.1
- c.HIPAA
- d.FDA drop-ball only
ANSI Z87.1 sets requirements for occupational and educational personal eye protection, specifying high-impact testing and markings. Dress eyewear follows ANSI Z80.1, a different, less stringent impact standard.ANSI Z80
Safety frames and lenses that meet the high-impact standard are marked with what?
- a.Z87+ (the plus indicating high impact)✓
- b.FDA
- c.AR
- d.Z80
Under ANSI Z87.1, high-impact-rated safety eyewear is marked 'Z87+', where the plus sign denotes passing the high-velocity and high-mass impact tests; basic-impact eyewear is marked 'Z87' without the plus.ANSI Z80
Under HIPAA, a patient's prescription and health information must be handled how?
- a.Discarded openly
- b.Posted publicly
- c.Kept private and disclosed only as permitted✓
- d.Shared with any vendor
HIPAA requires that protected health information, including a patient's optical prescription and records, be kept confidential and disclosed only to authorized parties or as the patient permits.HIPAA
A distometer is used to measure what?
- a.Frame width
- b.Vertex distance from the cornea to the back of the lens✓
- c.Pupillary distance
- d.Lens power
A distometer measures the vertex distance between the front of the eye and the back surface of the lens, information needed for accurate power compensation in higher prescriptions.
Professional ethics require an optician who discovers a possible prescription error to do what?
- a.Refuse all service
- b.Fill it as written without comment
- c.Change the Rx independently
- d.Verify with the prescriber before dispensing✓
Ethical and safe practice requires the optician to confirm a questionable or seemingly erroneous prescription with the prescribing doctor rather than guessing or unilaterally altering it, protecting the patient.
A Geneva lens clock (lens measure) reads what?
- a.Pupillary distance
- b.Lens power in the eye
- c.Surface curvature (base curve) of a lens✓
- d.Prism amount
A lens clock, or Geneva lens measure, uses three pins to measure the sag of a lens surface and reports the surface curve in diopters, commonly used to check base curve and detect warpage.
When cleaning and handling patient frames and instruments, an optician maintains professionalism by doing what?
- a.Following sanitation and equipment-calibration routines✓
- b.Ignoring hygiene
- c.Reusing dirty cloths
- d.Skipping calibration
Regular sanitation of tools and frames and periodic calibration of instruments such as the lensmeter and pupillometer ensure accurate measurements and hygienic, professional service to patients.
How hard is the exam?
The ABO (American Board of Opticianry) certification exam is commonly about 125 multiple-choice questions over 2 hours, and the fee is about $225. It covers ophthalmic optics, lenses, frames and dispensing. Dispensing opticians earn a median of about $46,560/year (BLS, May 2024).
- Recommended study hours
- 40-80 hours for most, alongside dispensing experience.
- Published pass rate
- 64.0% (the source does not say which attempts it counts) — ABO-NCLE, 2024. That is the ABO Basic Exam. ABO-NCLE gives no candidate count and no first-attempt split; the Advanced exam was 52.0% and the ABO Practical 65.0%.Source: ABO-NCLE — ABO/NCLE Basic Exam, “Eligibility & Pass Rates”
- Where to focus first
- Ophthalmic optics — lens types, materials, prescriptions and how they translate into a finished pair of glasses.
Fees and salaries are approximate and change over time. The pass rate above is quoted from the source linked beside it, for the period that source covers — where we have not checked a source, we say so and give no number.