A multicentre double-masked, placebo-controlled randomised trial supports the use of low-dose atropine eye drops for the treatment of myopia in UK children.
Published in the British Medical Journal, the study found daily 0.01% atropine eye drops led to significant reduction in myopia progression compared with placebo, suggesting that “a low concentration atropine eye drop product would be a worthwhile addition to currently available optical interventions for the treatment of myopia in children in the UK”.
For the study, the researchers recruited 289 children with myopia aged 6–12 years (72% reported white ethnicity and 56% were girls) from five NHS hospital eye services and academic institutions between June 2019 and February 2022. All children wore standard spectacles to correct myopia.
A total of 192 children received daily 0.01% atropine eye drops and 97 received placebo for two years, in addition to standard spectacles. Myopia progression, eye growth, safety and tolerability were monitored every six months.
Final results were available for 230 children (151 in the atropine group and 79 in the placebo group) and changes in refractive error and central axial length, both key quantifiers of myopia, were reduced in the atropine cohort compared with the placebo cohort by a mean of 0.38D and 0.14mm, respectively, according to the researchers.
