New study examines best approach to stopping atropine treatment

A new study published in JAMA Ophthalmology has examined the best approach to discontinuing 0.05% atropine for the treatment of myopia.

The research focused on children between the ages of four and 12 who took part in the Low-Concentration Atropine for Myopia Progression (LAMP) study. The study group was followed up over eight years.

Scientists aimed to determine whether tapering or stopping treatment with 0.05% atropine resulted in more progression over a three-year period.

Within the taper group, study participants received 0.05% atropine for six months and then 0.025% atropine for another six months in year six of the trial.

Their myopia progression was compared with a cohort who continued using 0.05% atropine in year six of the trial.

All participants then stopped treatment and underwent monitoring in year seven and eight of the trial.

The researchers found that spherical equivalent progression and axial length elongation were faster in the group that stopped treatment compared with the group that tapered treatment.

“This study found that over three years, the participants in the taper group had less myopia progression than the stop group, particularly in children who were younger and had more myopia,” the scientists concluded.

However, the researchers added that the clinical relevance of the 0.25-D difference between treatment groups “is not well understood from the current medical literature.”