Which of the following is an abnormal cover test finding?

• A. 4 XP at near
• B. 2 XP at distance
• C. 1 EP at near
• D. 6 XP at distance

Answer: (C)

The test is about how the eyes align when fusion is momentarily disrupted. A phoria is a latent misalignment that appears only when the eyes are forced to rely on the weaker eye, and it’s described by direction: exophoria means the eyes drift outward, esophoria means they drift inward. At near, the normal binocular system tends to balance with a small outward drift due to convergence demands, so an inward drift at near is not typical. Even a small esophoria—like 1 prism diopter at near—signals an abnormal vergence balance, indicating a binocular vision issue. The other findings describe outward drifts (exophorias) at various distances, which can fall within normal variation for some individuals or be more clearly abnormal if pronounced, but the inward near deviation stands out as the abnormal one.