Relative peripheral refraction characteristics and their relationship with retinal microvasculature in young adults: Using a novel quantitative approach

•Multispectral refractive tomograph, a novel quantitative approach, may be a useful tool in relative peripheral refraction quantitative assessment.•Relative peripheral refraction and some optical coherence tomography angiography indexes might be closely correlated. To analyze relative peripheral refraction (RPR) characteristics in young adults and to investigate the relationship between RPR and retinal microvasculature using multispectral refractive tomography (MRT), a novel quantitative approach. This cross-sectional study included 278 eyes of 139 young adults. All eyes underwent complete ophthalmic examinations, including MRT, optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA) and other ocular examinations. Refraction difference values (RDVs) among different rings/sectors were compared using one-way ANOVA in bilateral eyes. Stepwise multiple linear regression analyses were performed between ∆RDV in different rings and ∆density/thickness value in OCTA. Among the different rings, the 30°-45°/45°-53° RDV was significantly greater than the inner rings in both eyes. Among the different sectors, RDV in the superior sector was most significantly reduced among all sectors, and RDV in the nasal sector was significantly greater than that in the temporal sector. In the stepwise multiple linear regression analyses, ∆RDV was negatively correlated with ∆radial peripapillary capillary plexus density and ∆macular thickness. MRT may be a useful tool in RPR quantitative assessment. RPR and some OCTA indexes might be closely correlated. Further research should be conducted to investigate the relationships among these indexes in young adults.