Peripheral Refraction in Myopic Children with and without Atropine Usage
Han‐Yin Sun, Wei-Yang Lu, Jhen-Yu You, Hui‐Ying Kuo
Abstract
Purpose . To compare the patterns of relative peripheral refractions of myopic children who were currently on atropine treatment for myopia control and myopic children who did not use atropine. Methods . Chinese children ( n = 209) aged 7 to 12 years participated in the study, 106 used atropine and 103 did not. Participants were also classified into three groups: emmetropes (SE: +0.50 to −0.50 D), low myopes (SE: −0.50 to −3.00 D), and moderate myopes (SE: −3.00 to −6.00 D). The central and peripheral refractions along the horizontal meridians (for both nasal and temporal fields) were measured in 10-degree steps to 30 degrees. Results . There were no statistically significant differences in spherical equivalent and astigmatism of the three refractive groups in either the nasal or temporal retina. The atropine group showed a significant relative myopia in the temporal 30° field in spherical equivalent compared to the emmetropic group ( t 49 = 3.36,<mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" id="M1"><mml:mrow><mml:mi>P</mml:mi><mml:mo>=</mml:mo><mml:mn>0.02</mml:mn></mml:mrow></mml:math>). In eyes with low myopia, the atropine group had significant relative myopia in the nasal 30° and temporal 30° fields ( t 118 = 2.59,<mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" id="M2"><mml:mrow><mml:mi>P</mml:mi><mml:mo>=</mml:mo><mml:mn>0.01</mml:mn></mml:mrow></mml:math>; t 118 = 2.06,<mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" id="M3"><mml:mrow><mml:mi>P</mml:mi><mml:mo>=</mml:mo><mml:mn>0.04</mml:mn></mml:mrow></mml:math>), and it is also observed at 20° and 30° of the nasal field for the moderate myopic group ( t 36 = 2.37,<mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" id="M4"><mml:mrow><mml:mi>P</mml:mi><mml:mo>=</mml:mo><mml:mn>0.02</mml:mn></mml:mrow></mml:math>; t 2.84 = 2.84,<mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" id="M5"><mml:mrow><mml:mi>P</mml:mi><mml:mo>=</mml:mo><mml:mn>0.01</mml:mn></mml:mrow></mml:math>). Conclusion . Significant differences in relative peripheral refraction were found between the atropine group and its controls. The findings suggested that the eyes that received atropine may have a less prolate shape and thus explain why using atropine is effective in controlling myopia progression.