Personality, psychophysical stress and myopia progression. A prospective study on 57 university students

Personality profile, psychophysical stress and cycloplegic refraction were evaluated at the baseline (T0) and after 12 months (T1) in 57 university students comprising 39 myopes and 18 emmetropes/hyperopes (controls) whose age, sex distribution and academic results were comparable. At T0, a tendency toward a higher degree of anxiety, somatization and inadequacy was found in myopes in comparison with controls; however, only the anxiety state was different (Wilcoxon signed-rank test P < 0.001). Personality profiles, psychophysical stress and blood levels of cortisol, ACTH, GH, prolactin were similar in myopes and controls. The myopes were classified at T1 as either well-corrected (if their lenses corresponded to refractometer values of +/- 0.50 D and were worn full-time) or undercorrected (if their lenses were > or = 0.75 D with respect to refractometric values and/or were worn part-time). When the spherical cycloplegic values at T0 and T1 were compared, a myopic shift was revealed only in the undercorrected myopes (P < 0.001 in both eyes). These findings suggest that personality profile and psychophysical stress do not play a primary pathogenetic role in myopia. Undercorrection seems to accelerate the progression of myopia.