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. 2023 Apr 26:14:45.
doi: 10.4103/ijpvm.ijpvm_175_22. eCollection 2023.

The Preventive Role of Atropine Eye Drops on Myopia Progression: A Double-Blind Randomized Clinical Trial

Abdolreza Medghalchi  1 , Hasan Behboudi  1 , Mitra Akbari  1 , Reza Soltani Moghadam  1 , Ehsan Kazemnejad  1 , Salah Sabnan  1
Affiliations

The Preventive Role of Atropine Eye Drops on Myopia Progression: A Double-Blind Randomized Clinical Trial

Abdolreza Medghalchi et al. Int J Prev Med. .

Abstract

Background: In the present study, we investigated the effect of two doses of atropine eye drops versus placebo on myopia progression in children and adolescents.

Methods: In this double-blind, randomized clinical trial, 67 patients aged 6 to 18 years with myopia of -2 to -6 D were enrolled and randomized to receive a placebo eye drop, atropine 0.1%, or 0.01% ophthalmic solution (one drop per night for 6 months). All participants were followed-up with for one year after the beginning of the study (at zero, one, three, six, and 12 months) and their spherical equivalent (SE), axial length (AL), anterior chamber depth (ACD), and far and near visual acuity (VA) and the eye drops side effects were recorded. A comparison among the groups was performed using SPSS software, version 24.0.

Results: Spherical equivalent, AL, and ACD decreased and far VA improved in atropine groups to a greater extent than the placebo group (P < .05) at the 6-month follow-up. The most common side effects of atropine 0.1% eye drop included photophobia and decreased near VA. At the end of the study (six months after the cessation of atropine), a rebound effect was observed; this effect was especially severe in the 0.1% atropine group.

Conclusions: Atropine eye drops are effective for slowing down and preventing myopia progression. However, without long-term treatment, they will have a rebound effect. A lower dose (0.01%) is suggested for reducing the side effects and rebound effects.

Keywords: Atropine; eye drop; glass; myopia; visual acuity.

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Conflict of interest statement

There are no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
The flow diagram for patient enrollment into the study
Figure 2
Figure 2
The trend of changes in spherical equivalent (a), anterior chamber length (b), and axial length (c) among the three study groups in the measured intervals
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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