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Blur sensitivity in myopes
M Rosenfield1, J A Abraham-Cohen
1State University of New York, College of Optometry, New York 10010, USA. Rosenfield@sunyopt.edu
Purpose:
This study compared the ability of myopes and emmetropes to detect subjectively the presence of retinal defocus.
Methods:
Subjects (12 myopes, 12 emmetropes) were cyclopleged and monocularly viewed a bipartite target through an appropriate near addition lens via a 2-mm artificial pupil. One-half of the target remained fixed while the other half was alternatively moved forward or backward until subjects first reported a difference in clarity between the two halves of the target.
Results:
The mean blur threshold for the emmetropes and myopes was +/-0.11 and +/-0.19 D, respectively (p = 0.0001).
Conclusions:
These results demonstrate that myopes are less sensitive to the presence of blur, and may at least partially explain why previous reports have demonstrated a larger lag of accommodation in this refractive group. Additionally, the hyperopic retinal defocus resulting from the increased accommodative error may play a significant role in myopia development and progression.