Mrs Cloverdale attends the optometrist for the first time in 6 years. She currently wears bifocals with only a mild prescriptive lens for distance vision. However, on review, her long distance sight appears fine, while her short distance vision has deteriorated. She is prescribed new reading glasses. The optometrist advises Mrs Cloverdale to remove her reading glasses before getting up to walk around, otherwise her ability to judge distances and see clearly will be affected by her prescription lenses for short-sightedness. This may take a bit of getting used to as she is used to wearing her glasses at all times.

Although in Mrs Cloverdale's case falls risk was increased by wearing bifocal lenses, it is important to remember that other vision related factors can also be contributory, such as visual field loss and poor contrast sensitivity.