Methods: A total of 302 eyes from 151 premature infants who underwent retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) screening at our clinic were retrospectively evaluated. The phototherapy group consisted of 68 infants (136 eyes) who received phototherapy due to hyperbilirubinemia and the control group included 83 infants (166 eyes) who did not receive phototherapy. At corrected age of one year, all infants underwent cycloplegic refraction measurement and compared between groups.

Results: Gestational age (GA) and birth weight (BW) did not differ significantly between groups (p=0.133 and p=0.119, respectively). Phototherapy exposure was a statistically significant independent predictor of both spherical refraction (B = −0.521 D, p = 0.020) and spherical equivalent (B = −0.445 D, p = 0.038) after adjustment for gestational age, birth weight, sex, and ROP status. Infants who did not receive phototherapy showed spherical and SE values approximately 0.45–0.52 D lower (less hyperopic) than those who received phototherapy.

Conclusion: Phototherapy administered during the neonatal period may influence refractive development in premature infants without ROP, potentially affecting the emmetropization process even when retinal damage is prevented. Keywords : Phototherapy, Prematürity, Refractive error