Accommodative lag and juvenile-onset myopia progression in children wearing refractive correction

The relationship between accommodative lag and annual myopia progression was investigated using linear models in 592 myopic children wearing a full refractive correction in the Collaborative Longitudinal Evaluation of Ethnicity and Refractive Error (CLEERE) Study. The mean (± SD) age and spherical equivalent refractive error at baseline were 10.4 ± 1.8 years and −2.13 ± 1.24 D, respectively. The mean annual progression of myopia was −0.45 ± 0.32 D, and the mean accommodative lag (for a 4-D Badal stimulus) was 1.59 ± 0.63 D. Neither lag at the beginning nor at the end of a yearly progression interval was associated with annual myopia progression (all p ⩾ 0.12). These data suggest that foveal hyperopic retinal blur during near viewing may not drive juvenile-onset myopia progression.

Research highlights► Accommodative lag and refractive error were measured annually in 592 myopic children. ► Accommodative lag was not associated with annual juvenile-onset myopia progression. ► Foveal hyperopic retinal blur during near viewing may not drive myopia progression.