STUDY OF ATROPINE (1%) IN MYOPIA PROGRESSION AT THE AGE OF 6 TO 14 YEARS SCHOOL CHILDREN

Abstract

Background: Atropine is the most studied and used antimuscarinic agent for myopia management. It is believed that its fundamental action is produced by blocking the muscarinic receptors of the retina and of the scleral fibroblasts, acting as an ocular growth inhibition factor. Therefore, the objective of the present study was to study the effect of 0.01% atropine (eye drop) in prevention of myopia progression in children.

Material and Methods: The present study was conducted among children aged 6 to 14 years.  All included patients were treated with 0.01% atropine sulfate one nightly eyedrop in each eye for 12 months. The main outcome of this study was myopia progression in terms of SE and AL changes over one year. The descriptive analysis of the variables was also performed. The software used for the analysis was IBM SPSS Statistics 20. P value< 0.05 was considered statistically significant.

Results: The total of 100 patients was included in the study in which 50% were females and 50% were males. After the first year of treatment, there was mean increase in the SE was and AL. All parameters underwent significantly changes except for best corrected visual acuity at distance and near.