ABSTRACT
Purpose
Atropine eye drops have been shown to slow the progression of myopia, but there has been limited research on the effectiveness of 0.05% atropine in treating myopia. This study aimed to investigate the safety and efficacy of 0.05% atropine eye drops in controlling myopia in children.
Methods
The study included 424 participants aged 6 to 12 years between January 1, 2015, and January 1, 2021. Of these, 213 were randomly assigned to the 0.05% atropine group and 211 to the placebo group. The cycloplegic spherical equivalent (SE), axial length (AL), corneal curvature (K), and anterior chamber depth (ACD) were measured using IOLMaster. The lens power and corneal astigmatism were also determined. The changes in ocular biometric parameters were compared between the two groups, and the contributions of ocular characteristics to SE progression were calculated and compared.
Results
Over a 12-month period, the changes in spherical equivalent were −0.03 ± 0.28 and −0.32 ± 0.14 in the atropine and placebo groups, respectively (P = .01). The changes in axial length were 0.06 ± 0.11 and 0.17 ± 0.12, respectively (P = .01). At 18 and 24 months, there were significant differences in axial length and spherical equivalent between the atropine and placebo groups. Multiple regression models accounting for changes in AL, K, and lens magnification explained 87.23% and 98.32% of SE changes in the atropine and placebo groups, respectively. At 1 year (p = .01) and 2 years (p = .03), there were significant differences in photophobia between the atropine and placebo groups.
Conclusions
This two-year follow-up study demonstrates that 0.05% atropine eye drops are safe and effective in preventing the development of myopia in school-aged children.
KEYWORDS:
Acknowledgments
We would like to thank all participants and our hospital.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Author contribution
guarantor of integrity of the entire study: Hong-Bo Zhang
study concepts: Hong-Bo Zhang
study design: Shu-Mao Li
definition of intellectual content: Shu-Mao Li
literature research: Pei-Hua Yang
clinical studies: Hong-Bo Zhang
experimental studies: Shu-Mao Li
data acquisition: Wei-Xiao Zhang
data analysis: Pei-Hua Yang
statistical analysis: Wei-Xiao Zhang
manuscript preparation: Wei-Xiao Zhang
manuscript editing: Ya-Hong Li
manuscript review: Ya-Hong Li
Data availability statement
The data used to support the findings of this study are included in the article.
Correction Statement
This article has been corrected with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.