A comparative study on slow down progression of myopia using atropine 0.01% in children

Abstract

The aim of the study was to determine the efficacy of lower concentration of Atropine 0.01% in promoting unaided visual acuity and slowing down the progression of myopia in children over 6 months. It was a hospital-based comparative study in the outpatient department of Ophthalmology, AL, LT, ACD, PPD, SPD, PGP were taken by Lenstar and Lensometer.The Comparative study was performed on 60 children from 9 to 15 years age group with initial myopic spherical equivalence from 0.5 to 6.00 D. The children were screened for visual acuity for distance and near using Snellen’s chart. Cycloplegic Refraction was done to know the presence of Refractive Errors. This study was approved by IRB Ethical Committee. (SCAHS/IRB/2022/JULY/420).The inclusion criteria include Ammetropic children with no binocular vision anomalies and no history of ocular disease. The primary outcome was the rate of myopic progression after 6 months. The participants were instructed to use Atropine 0.01% eye drops during night times for 6 months and the rate of myopic progression and the spherical equivalence, axial length, lens thickness, anterior chamber depth, photopic and scotopic pupil diameter were re-assessed to compare the progression of myopia in the children. Sixty children enrolled for six months study in which the mean progression of myopia was found to be within 0.27D and axial elongation shows 0.23 mm changes respectively, whereas there were no significant changes in the anterior chamber depth, lens thickness, photopic and scotopic pupil diameter before and after assessment in children. Spherical power, Axial Length, Anterior Chamber Depth, Lens Thickness, Photopic Pupil Diameter and Scotopic Pupil Diameter all showed significant progression from pre to post stages, with the average post reading deviating by 0.25 from the normal limits.