Hypo-accommodation responses in hypermetropic infants and children

What is it about?

It is often assumed that long sighted children will compensate for long sight by putting in extra focusing (accommodation) effort. We looked at the accommodation of a group of typical infants who eventually grew out of their long sight, as well as a group of children who remained long sighted into later childhood. Contrary to our expectations, the older children often did not "make up the difference" and seemed happy to tolerate blur without glasses or for near. The infants destined to grow out of their long sight did a little better for near than distance, while the opposite was found for the older children who were still longsighted.

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Why is it important?

Many optometrists and ophthalmologists systematically under-correct children with long sight on the assumption they will make up difference. This study suggests they rarely do if it is not critical to the task. More research is needed to see undercorrection is still the best strategy and to determine whether a little near blur matters.