Prevention of myopia onset and progression with 0.01% atropine solution among school-age children

Objective To evaluate the efficacy and safety of 0.01% atropine solution for prevention of myopia onset and progression among school-age children.Methods From 2012 to 2016,217 premyopic and myopic children aged 7-12 years were randomly selected and divided into two groups:1 10 cases (110 cyes) in intervention group receiving 0.01% atropine eye drops every evening,and 117 cases (117 eyes) served as control group without any treatment.All participants were followed up for 1 year.The change of refraction and diopter,eye axis length and intraocular pressure (IOP) between the two groups were assessed before and after the intervention.Rapid growth rate in myopia and adverse reaction was compared between the two groups.Multivariate linear regression analysis was used to analyze the related factors of myopic degree changes.Results After 1-year follow-up,average spherical refraction myopic shift in intervention group was (-0.20±0.84) D,which was significantly lower than that of control group (-0.63±0.88) D (P<0.01).Incidence of myopia and myopia rapid growth rate in the intervention group was significantly lower than that of control group (7.2% vs.19.66%,P=0.007;10.91% vs.43.59%,P<0.01).Change of ocular axial length showed the same trend,with intervention group (0.11±0.62) mm significantly lower than that of control group (0.37±0.65) mm (P=0.002).No significant difference was found in change of IOP,(0.30±3.81) mmHg for intervention group and (-0.44±4.17) mmHg for control group.Multiple linear regression showed that 0.01% atropine had significant effects in preventing myopia progression(B =0.238,95%CI=0.209-0.551,P<0.01).All the two groups did not appear photophobia,near-blurred vision or the other intolerant side effects.Conclusion Regular topical instillation of 0.0t% atropine can safely prevent myopia onset and progression among schoolage children for at least a period of one year.