Comparison of 0.01% and 0.05% Atropine Eye Drops in Childhood Myopia Progression

Background: Comparison of 0.01% and 0.05% atropine eye drops with every other day treatment for slowing down myopia progression in children. Methods: Children aged 5-16 years with myopia of -1.00-10.00 D and astigmatism less than -2.50 D and had myopic progression of at least 1.00D in the past year were included in the retrospective study. 0.01% and 0.05% atropine eye drops were applied every other day. At each visit, all patients underwent complete ophthalmic examination including cycloplegic refraction, axial length (AL), and photopic-mesopic pupil sizes. Spherical equivalent(SE), AL and photopic-mesopic pupil sizes were evaluated. Results: Totally 92 eyes of 46 patients were included in the study ( 22 0.01% atropin, 24 0.05% atropin). At the end of the 12-months follow- up period, tbe mean SE change was -0.41±0.28 D and -0,19±0.22 D in the 0.01% and %0.05 atropine groups, respectively (p<0.001). AL change was 0.19±0.16mm and 0.16±0.24mm in the 0.01% and 0.05% atropine groups, respectively (p=0.52). Side effects such as photophobia and blurred near vision were not observed in the 0.01% atropine group, but in the 0.05% atropine group, photophobia ( 3 patients) and blurred near vision ( 8 patients) were observed. Conclusions: 0.01% and 0.05% atropine eye drops significantly slow down the progression of myopia with every other day use. 0.01% atropine is better tolerated than 0.05% atropine.