The Effect of Contact Lens Correction and Accommodation upon Monochromatic Higher Order Aberrations in Myopia and Hyperopia

PURPOSE: To measure the effects of contact lens correction and accommodation upon SA in myopia and hyperopia. METHODS: Eleven myopes (Average MSE −3.22±2.21D; mean age 20.7±1.1 years) and eleven hyperopes (Average MSE 4.20±2.20; mean age 20.1±1.5) participated. Subjects were corrected with daily disposable contact lenses and pupil dilation was induced with 2.5% phenylephrine hydrochloride. SA was measured at accommodation stimulus levels of 0D and 4D, using the Zywave Aberrometer while subjects viewed a high contrast letter target array in a +5D Badal system, aligned perpendicularly to the measurement axis of the instrument via a semi-silvered mirror. RESULTS: For 0D of accommodation, the hyperopic group had significantly (p < 0.01) greater positive SA. Contact lens correction produced a positive shift in SA in the hyperopic group (p < 0.01), whereas there was a negative shift in SA in the myopic group (p < 0.01). Negative shifts in SA were found with accommodation in both myopic (p < 0.01) and hyperopic (p < 0.01) groups, with the shift being greater in the hyperopic group (p < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: The net effect of contact lens correction and accommodation result in SA for near visual tasks, which is predominantly negative in myopia and positive in hyperopia.