Red and green defocus curves and duochrome test in different age groups

Riccardo Rolandi, Fabrizio Zeri, Alessandro Duse, Giulia Carlotta Rizzo, Erika Ponzini, Silvia Tavazzi

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

PURPOSE: To compare the eye defocus curves (DCs) obtained with stimuli on red, green, and white backgrounds and to investigate the applicability of the duochrome test (DT) in different age groups.

METHODS: 12 elderly (ELD: 59.3 ± 3.9 years) and 8 young (YG: 22.1 ± 1.1 years) subjects were recruited. An optometric assessment with the DT was carried out to obtain the subjective refraction at distance. DCs at distance on green, white, and red backgrounds were measured and the following parameters were deduced: dioptric difference between red-green, green-white, red-white focal positions (minima of the DCs), best corrected visual acuity (BCVA), and widths of the DCs for red, green, and white.

RESULTS: The DC difference between the green-white focal positions (mean ± standard deviation) was -0.12±0.17 diopters (D) (ELD, p = 0.012) and -0.11±0.12 D (YG, p = 0.039), while the red-white difference was not statistically significant. The DC red-green difference was 0.20±0.16 D (ELD, p = 0.002) and 0.18±0.18 D (YG, p = 0.008). The ELD BCVA with green background was significantly worse than BCVA with red (p = 0.007) and white (p = 0.007). The mean value of the DC's width in ELD for green (1.01±0.36 D) was higher than for red (0.77±0.21 D) and for white (0.84±0.35 D), but with no statistical significance.

CONCLUSION: Both age groups showed a slight focusing preference for red when using white light. Moreover, ELD showed a worse BCVA with a green compared to a red background. Despite these results deduced by DC analyses, these aspects do not compromise the possibility of using the DT in clinical practice both in the young and in the elderly. Furthermore, the difference of about 0.20 D between red-green DC in both groups confirms the clinical appropriateness of the widespread use of 0.25 D step as the standard minimum difference in power between correcting lenses.

Original languageEnglish
Article number100497
Number of pages9
JournalJournal of Optometry
Volume17
Issue number3
Early online date20 Dec 2023
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Jul 2024

Bibliographical note

Copyright © 2023 Spanish General Council of Optometry. Published by Elsevier España, S.L.U. This is an open access article under the CC BY
license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

Keywords

  • Defocus curve
  • Eye examination
  • Age
  • Visual acuity
  • Duochrome

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