Changes in myopia, visual acuity, and psychological distress after biofeedback visual training

Area of Science:

• Ophthalmology
• Behavioral Science

Background:

• Myopia is a common refractive error affecting visual acuity.
• Visual training interventions are explored to manage myopia progression and associated factors.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the impact of auditory biofeedback visual training on myopia, visual acuity (VA), and psychological distress in high school students.
• To determine if this training could alter refractive error progression or improve objective VA measurements.

Main Methods:

• A controlled prospective study involved 55 mildly myopic students and 27 emmetropic controls.
• Myopic participants were divided into treatment (visual training) and control groups.
• Evaluations included refraction, VA (conventional and computer optotypes), and psychometric assessments at baseline, post-treatment, and 12-month follow-up.

Main Results:

• Myopia significantly worsened in both treated and control myopic groups over 12 months.
• Treated myopes showed improved VA with conventional optotypes but not computer-generated ones.
• Psychometric scores improved in treated myopes and emmetropic controls, indicating reduced psychological distress.
• A subset of myopes demonstrated voluntary control of positive accommodation.

Conclusions:

• Auditory biofeedback visual training positively impacted psychological distress and subjective VA improvement.
• The training did not halt or slow myopia progression.
• Improvements in VA were partly attributed to learning effects and increased foveation time.