title: Small refractive errors--their correction and practical importance.
abstract: Small refractive errors present a group of specifc far-sighted refractive dispositions that are compensated by enhanced accommodative exertion and aren't exhibited by loss of the visual acuity. This paper should answer a few questions about their correction, flowing from theoretical presumptions and expectations of this dilemma. The main goal of this research was to (dis)confirm the hypothesis about convenience, efficiency and frequency of the correction that do not raise the visual acuity (or if the improvement isn't noticeable). The next goal was to examine the connection between this correction and other factors (age, size of the refractive error, etc.). The last aim was to describe the subjective personal rating of the correction of these small refractive errors, and to determine the minimal improvement of the visual acuity, that is attractive enough for the client to purchase the correction (glasses, contact lenses). It was confirmed, that there's an indispensable group of subjects with good visual acuity, where the correction is applicable, although it doesn't improve the visual acuity much. The main importance is to eliminate the asthenopia. The prime reason for acceptance of the correction is typically changing during the life, so as the accommodation is declining. Young people prefer the correction on the ground of the asthenopia, caused by small refractive error or latent strabismus; elderly people acquire the correction because of improvement of the visual acuity. Generally the correction was found useful in more than 30%, if the gain of the visual acuity was at least 0,3 of the decimal row.
authors.affiliation: Department of Optometry and Orthoptics, Masaryk University, Faculty of Medicine, Brno, Czech Republic. matejskrbek@seznam.cz
authors.forename: Matej
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Skrbek
authors.forename: Sylvie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Petrová
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012030:Refractive Errors / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000628:therapy*; D014792:Visual Acuity