Calibration of the PlusOptix PowerRef 3 with change in viewing distance, adult age and refractive error

The PowerRef 3 is frequently used in studying the near triad of accommodation, vergence and pupil responses in normal and clinical populations. Within a range, the defocus measurement of the PowerRef 3 is linearly related to the eye's defocus. While the default factory-calibrated slope of this relation (calibration factor) is 1, it has been shown that the slope can vary across individuals. Here, we addressed the impact of changes in viewing distance, age and defocus of the eye on the calibration factor.

We manipulated viewing distance (40 cm, 1 m and 6 m) and recruited participants with a range of accommodative capabilities: participants in their 20s, 40s and over 60 years old. To test whether any effect was larger than the range of measurement reliability of the instrument, we collected data for each condition four times: two in the same session, another on the same day, and one on a different day.

The results demonstrated that viewing distance did not affect the calibration factor over the linear range, regardless of age or uncorrected refractive error. The largest proportion of the variance was explained by between-subject differences.

Calibration data for the PowerRef 3 were not sensitive to changes in viewing distance. Nevertheless, our results re-emphasise the relevance of calibration for studies of individual participants.