Optical factors influencing the amplitude of accommodation

The purpose of this work was to find plausible predictors among optical parameters that may explain the inter-individual differences in subjective amplitude of accommodation not explained by age. An exploratory multivariable regression analysis was carried out retrospectively on a dataset with 180 eyes from 97 subjects (ages ranged from 20 to 58 years). Subjective amplitudes of accommodation were recorded with the use of a custom-made Badal system. A commercial aberrometer was used to obtain each eye's wavefront during the full range of accommodation. The plausible predictors under study were pupil diameter in the unaccommodated eye, its reduction with accommodation; fourth- and six-order Zernike spherical aberration, their reduction with accommodation, and subjective refraction. At a significance level of 0.05, only fourth- and sixth-order Zernike spherical aberration were found to be predictors of subjective amplitude of accommodation not explained by age, each explaining on their own less than 5% of the variance, and about 9% together. All other optical parameters explained less than 2%. Spherical aberration did not explain the greater variability for younger eyes than for older eyes. The remainder variability in amplitude of accommodation not explained by age or spherical aberration was about ±2.6 D for 20 year-old subjects, ±1.5 D for 40 year-old subjects, and about ±0.6 D for 55 year-old subjects. Optical factors do not seem to account for much of the inter-individual differences in subjective amplitude of accommodation. Most of the variability not explained by age must be due to anatomical differences and physiological, psychological, or other factors.