Certified Ophthalmic Technician Practice Test 2025 – Complete Exam Prep

Cycloplegic refraction is specifically performed to prevent the accommodative effort required to compensate for hyperopia. During this procedure, cycloplegic agents are administered to temporarily paralyze the ciliary muscle of the eye, which is responsible for adjusting the lens to focus on near objects. This paralysis helps to eliminate the effects of accommodation, allowing for a more accurate measurement of the refractive error of the eye without the influence of the patient's ability to accommodate for hyperopic vision.

By minimizing the accommodation, the refraction accurately determines the refractive power needed to provide clear vision, particularly in patients with hyperopia, where accommodation may otherwise lead to underestimating their true refractive error. This has significant implications for prescribing corrective lenses, as it ensures that the optometrist or ophthalmologist can create an appropriate prescription tailored to the patient's actual visual needs.

In contrast, the other options do not accurately reflect the primary purpose of cycloplegic refraction. The aim is not to increase accommodative effort, measure astigmatic error, or enhance visual acuity directly. Instead, the focus is on assessing the uncorrected refractive state by removing the influence of accommodation.