Researchers in the United States are leading a national study to determine whether daily drops of atropine can delay the onset of myopia, rather than just slow its progression.

Scientists at the Ohio State University and the University of Houston have received two grants from the National Institutes of Health, totalling US$25 million, to test atropine as a preventive therapy in children age 6–11 years old.

“The more nearsightedness you have, the more at risk you are as an older adult of sight-threatening complications – retinal detachments, atrophy at the back of the eye, glaucoma, and macular degeneration,” said Dr Jeffrey Walline, Associate Dean for Research at The Ohio State University College of Optometry. “So, anything we can do to reduce the amount of myopia reduces your risk of those complications. And that’s our goal, ultimately.”

Atropine is commonly used to slow the progression of myopia after its onset. This new study aims to administer the drug before diagnosis in children deemed at highest risk for myopia, based on their school vision screening outcomes.

Researchers plan to enrol over 600 children who will be randomised to receive nightly drops of either 0.05% low-concentration atropine or a placebo for two years.

The timing of the onset of myopia in children receiving the drug will be compared to those who receive the placebo. Any children in the placebo arm of the trial who are diagnosed with myopia during the study will begin receiving the atropine drops.

The researchers predict the atropine drops will reduce the proportion of children who become nearsighted from 20% in the placebo group to 10% in the treatment group, and that atropine will slow pre-myopic eye growth by 30% over the course of the study.