Ocular higher-order aberrations and axial eye growth in young Hong Kong children

This retrospective longitudinal analysis aimed to investigate the association between ocular higher-order aberrations (HOAs) and axial eye growth in Hong Kong children. Measures of axial length and ocular HOAs under cycloplegia were obtained annually over a two-year period from 137 subjects aged 8.8 ± 1.4 years with mean spherical equivalent refraction of -2.04 ± 2.38 D. A significant negative association was observed between the RMS of total HOAs and axial eye growth (P = 0.03), after adjusting for other significant predictors of axial length including age, sex and refractive error. Similar negative associations with axial elongation were found for the RMS of spherical aberrations ([Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] combined) (P = 0.037). Another linear mixed model also showed that greater levels of vertical trefoil [Formula: see text], primary spherical aberration [Formula: see text] and negative oblique trefoil [Formula: see text] were associated with slower axial elongation and longer axial length (all P < 0.05). These findings support the potential role of HOAs, image quality and a vision-dependent mechanism in childhood eye growth.