Changes in accommodation dynamics after alcohol consumption, for two different doses.

PURPOSE

The purpose of this work was to evaluate possible changes in accommodation dynamics caused by the intake of different doses of alcohol.

METHODS

A total of 20 emmetropic subjects took part in the study. This involved a baseline session, a session after consuming 300 ml of red wine, and another after consuming 450 ml of the same wine. The accommodation dynamics were characterized for two target vergences (2.5D and 5.0D) using the Grand Seiko WAM-5500 autorefractor, which provided the accommodation and disaccommodation variables. The accommodative facility was measured using flippers of ± 2.00 D.

RESULTS

The mean accommodation velocities and velocity peaks were significantly lower after consuming alcohol for the higher intake, particularly for 5.0D (p < 0.05). The response time was significantly higher only for the high-intake condition for 5.0D (p < 0.05). The accommodative microfluctuations were significantly higher for both target vergences for the high-intake condition (p < 0.05). The accommodative facility was significantly impaired in both intake conditions (p < 0.05). The breath alcohol content (BrAC) was correlated with the deterioration of some variables: the accommodative facility (ρ = 0.490), and the velocity peak for 2.5D (ρ = 0.349) and 5.0D (ρ = 0.387).

CONCLUSIONS

Alcohol intake affects accommodation dynamics, causing deterioration in the mean velocity, velocity peak, response time, accommodative microfluctuations, and accommodative facility, especially for the target vergence of 5.0D and high alcohol dosages.