Eyeworld

44 | EYEWORLD | OCTOBER 2020 by Maxine Lipner Contributing Writer What happens to vision during pregnancy P regnancy can cause a woman's vision to fluctuate, but is this cause for con- cern? Research indicates that there is no significant difference in refractive status among pregnant women com- pared to their non-pregnant counter- parts. 1 Frances Wu, MD, wanted to investigate refractive shifts after noticing some of her pregnant patients reported intermittent or re- cent blurred vision but could correct to 20/20. "I had this question in my mind as to whether there was any change in their refractive status that was causing these reports of blurry vision," Dr. Wu said. However, the literature was un- clear. There was some prior research showing changes in refractive error during pregnancy, but these studies were based on self-reported changes and conducted on a smaller scale. Dr. Wu set out to look at this on a larger, systematic scale. Investigators drew on data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), which is conducted every 2 years. "In the years from 2005 through 2008 they did collect ophthalmologic data," Dr. Wu said. Investigators matched 301 pregnant women in the database with 301 non-pregnant women who had similar baseline characteristics. Analysis revealed there was no difference in the objective refraction, Dr. Wu reported. Looking at more detailed characteristics, specifically 61 women who were pregnant and who wore glasses, Dr. Wu said, "We looked for differences between the objective refraction and lensometry data for the glasses they came in with, and we found that the pregnant and non-pregnant groups were similar." However, when information on trimester was taken into account, investigators found a greater change in refraction for those who were later in pregnancy. There was no trend toward either myopia or hyperopia. Dr. Wu was somewhat taken aback by the results. "There are a lot of studies that show there is some kind of change in refraction, so it is surprising that there was no change," she said, adding that there might a small subset who had a change not reflected in the greater general population considered in the pooled data. Investigators were also interested in the refraction change found later in pregnancy. "Maybe there is something physiologic going continued on page 46 About the doctor Frances Wu, MD Resident Department of Ophthalmology University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) San Francisco, California "Maybe there is something physiologic going on during pregnancy. Or these women are just waiting to update their prescription for the duration of their pregnancy." —Frances Wu, MD R RESEARCH HIGHLIGHT EFRACTIVE

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