Which of the following refractive problems most closely resembles presbyopia?
High-Yield Explanation
Presbyopia is the loss of accommodative power that occurs as a person ages. Because accommodation cannot occur, the near point moves way from the eye and images must be held at some distance from the eye to be clearly seen. This is similar to the situation in hyperopia where the converging power is too weak for the axial length of the eye. Hyperopes must accommodate to see distant objects clearly and thus have less accommodation available for near vision. Thus hyperopes, like presbyopes, must hold objects at a distance to see them clearly (hence the term "farsighted"). Ref: Riordan-Eva P. (2011). Chapter 21. Optics & Refraction. In P. Riordan-Eva, E.T. Cunningham, Jr. (Eds), Vaughan & Asbury's General Ophthalmology, 18e.