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From the Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, University of Wisconsin Medical School, Madison.
| Abstract |
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METHODS. All people 43 to 84 years of age and living in Beaver Dam, Wisconsin, in 1988 were invited for a baseline examination (19881990) and a 5-year follow-up examination (19931995). Refractions were determined according to the same protocol at both examinations. Aphakic and pseudophakic eyes were excluded as well as eyes with best corrected Snellen visual acuity of 20/40 and worse. After exclusions, refraction was obtained on 3007 right eyes and 3012 left eyes of the 3684 people participating in both examinations.
RESULTS. Right and left eyes behaved similarly. Spherical equivalent became more positive in the youngest subjects and more negative in older subjects. After adjusting for other factors, the 5-year change in spherical equivalent of those 45, 55, 65, and 75 years of age was +0.15, +0.18, +0.10, and -0.07 D, respectively. Severity of nuclear sclerosis was related to the amount of change. Those with mild nuclear sclerosis at baseline had a change of +0.2 D, whereas those with severe nuclear sclerosis had a change of -0.5 D. The amount of change was also related to gender, diabetes, and age at onset of myopia. It was unrelated to education and baseline spherical equivalent.
CONCLUSIONS. Changes in spherical equivalent over a 5-year period were small. Before the age of 70, people became more hyperopic. After the age of 70, people became more myopic. Much of the myopic change may be related to increasing nuclear sclerosis.
| Introduction |
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Population-based cross-sectional studies in adults show decreasing prevalence rates of myopia with increasing age and less education.9 10 11 The Beaver Dam Eye Study provided prevalence rates of myopia that varied from 43% in those 45 to 54 years of age to 15% in those 65 to 74 years of age. In the Framingham Offspring Eye Study, prevalence of myopia was similar to prevalence rates in the Beaver Dam Eye Study. They also report a prevalence of myopia of 26% in those with 7 to 12 years of education, whereas those with 16 or more years of education had a prevalence of 43%.
Few studies have investigated changes in refractive error in adults over time. Studies in young adults (2030 years of age) have found myopic shifts in refraction, regardless of the baseline refraction.2 12 13 Another study involving a range of ages found myopic shifts in refraction before 50 years of age and hyperopic shifts after 50 years of age.14 These studies have all been small and often in select populations. They have often studied subjects whose tasks included extensive near work. Methods used were not always consistent over time, such as use of cycloplegia at one examination, but not at another. There remains little information about change in refraction with age. This information is important in anticipating eye care needs and understanding the long-term expectations for patients undergoing refractive surgery. The Beaver Dam Eye Study is a population-based study of adults 43 to 84 years of age observed for 5 years. This article examines changes over time in spherical equivalent as a measure of refraction and its relation to various characteristics.
| Methods |
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Procedures
Similar procedures were used at both the baseline and follow-up
examinations. Tenets of the Declaration of Helsinki were followed.
Informed consent was obtained from each subject, and institutional
human experimentation committee approval was granted. Assessment of the
refraction in the participants current prescription (if available)
was followed by a standardized refraction using an automated refractor.
The refraction was refined according to a modification of The Early
Treatment Diabetic Retinopathy Study (ETDRS) protocol17
to
obtain the best corrected visual acuity when the automated refraction
yielded visual acuity of 20/40 or worse. Interexaminer and
intraexaminer comparisons showed no significant differences over time
or among examiners for the Humphrey (San Leandro, CA) refractions
obtained.
Blood pressures were measured according to the Hypertension Detection and Follow-up Program protocol.18 Pupils were pharmacologically dilated and an interview schedule was administered. During the interview, participants were asked about history of glasses use for distance, years of education, income, history of diabetes, cardiovascular diseases (myocardial infarction, angina, and stroke), smoking, and alcohol consumption. After pupil dilation, slit lamp examination of the lens was performed, and lens status was recorded. Photographs were then taken of the lens of each eye using modified cameras. Slit lamp photographs were subsequently graded for lens status, severity of nuclear sclerosis, and lens thickness.19 Nuclear sclerosis was graded on a five-level scale by comparing lens density to a set of standards. Serum glucose and glycosylated hemoglobin from a casual blood specimen were measured for each subject.20 21
Definitions
The spherical equivalent was calculated from one of three possible
methods of refraction. The formula for calculating spherical equivalent
was spherical power (in diopters) + one half cylinder power (in
diopters). The results of the Humphrey refraction were used in the
analyses for 96% of eyes at baseline and for 93% of eyes at
follow-up. When ETDRS refraction (as modified for this study and
described) was performed, that refraction was used in the analyses (4%
of eyes at baseline and 5% of eyes at follow-up). In the remaining
people, refraction from the current prescription was used (<1% of
eyes at baseline, 2% of eyes at follow-up). Eyes without a lens, with
an intraocular lens, or with best corrected visual acuity 20/40 and
worse were excluded from analyses reported here because of diminished
reliability and increased variability of refractions in those with
impaired vision.
A person was considered to have diabetes if there was a self-report of diabetes accompanied by treatment (insulin or diet) or elevated glucose or glycosylated hemoglobin. Age was defined by the baseline value. Education level was categorized as fewer than 12 years, 12 years, 13 to 15 years, and 16 or more years. Myopia was defined as a spherical equivalent less than -0.5 D. Hyperopia was defined as a spherical equivalent greater than +0.5 D. When discussing the direction of change in spherical equivalent, a change in the positive direction was considered a hyperopic shift, whereas a change in the negative direction was considered a myopic shift. Youth-onset myopia was defined as self-reported use of glasses for distance before age 20 years, whereas adult-onset myopia was defined as a history of wearing glasses for distance after age 20 years.
Analyses
The Statistical Analysis System (SAS; Cary, NC) was used for
analyses.22
Relationships to amount of change were
examined through analysis of variance, the Pearson
2 test, and the CochranMantelHaenszel test
of general correlation.
| Results |
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| Discussion |
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After accounting for nuclear sclerosis, there was still a strong relationship to age and gender. Spherical equivalent increased in younger age groups and decreased in older age groups. After adjusting for nuclear sclerosis and other factors, those 45, 55, 65, and 75 years of age had 5-year changes in spherical equivalent of +0.15, +0.18, +0.10, and -0.07 D, respectively. Women had changes of +0.16 D and men had changes of +0.06 D. This was consistent with the increased prevalence of hyperopia with age that tapers around the age of 60 years, seen in most prevalence studies.9 10 11
We found no relationship among the amount of change for various baseline spherical equivalents, although there was a trend for those with myopia at baseline to have smaller hyperopic changes. We found a relationship, however, to the age at onset of myopia. After adjusting for other factors, those who had worn glasses since childhood had on average a +0.02-D change in spherical equivalent, whereas those never needing glasses for distance vision had +0.16-D change. The difference in the amount of change (-0.14 D) between youth-onset myopes and others was consistent with studies involving younger subjects. In a study of 53 university students (aged 1826 years), adult-onset myopes (after the age of 16 years) and emmetropes had a 3-year decrease in spherical equivalent of -0.18 and -0.15 D, respectively, whereas youth-onset myopes had a decrease of -0.26 D.2 On further investigation, we found that those wearing glasses since childhood were also more likely to be myopic at our baseline examination (data not shown). It is possible that the trend observed in change in spherical equivalent for myopes reflects the experience of those people wearing glasses for distance since childhood.
Prevalence studies have found relationships of education and diabetes to refraction.8 9 10 11 Level of education may represent a propensity for near-work activities throughout life, which is thought to affect change in spherical equivalent. We found no relationship between education level and amount of change. After adjusting for other factors, those with diabetes had a +0.22-D change in spherical equivalent, whereas those without diabetes had a +0.10-D change.
Because we did not measure many parameters of the eye (e.g., axial length), it is not possible to say whether the changes in refraction by age and gender that we found were caused by specific components of the refractive system of the eye other than the relationship to nuclear sclerosis. Residual accommodative ability may have influenced the changes observed in the younger subjects who may have had greater accommodative ability at the baseline examination than 5 years later. Further research is needed to understand fully the natural changes in refraction in adults. Population-based studies with cycloplegic refraction performed on subjects of a wide range of ages are needed to explore the magnitude and direction of change by age.
In conclusion, refraction continues to change throughout adulthood. We cannot assess which anatomic and physiologic components contribute to the changes. We note that changes observed over 5 years are small but may have a cumulative effect over many more years. As these shifts in refraction occur, the use of glasses may be required. This affects all people, regardless of initial refractive status, including emmetropes, naturally, or as a result of surgery.
| Footnotes |
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Supported by Grant EY06594 (RK, BEKK) from the National Institutes of Health.
Submitted for publication July 29, 1998; revised November 30, 1998; accepted February 9, 1999.
Proprietary interest category: N.
| References |
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