SynthesisFrontiers in medicine2026
Efficacy of 0.01% atropine for myopia control in children: an artificial intelligence-assisted multivariate Bayesian meta-analysis.
Synthesis in Frontiers in medicine, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Background: Low-concentration atropine (0.01%) has been widely investigated as a safe intervention for myopia control in children, yet its true efficacy remains uncertain due to inconsistent trial findings and high heterogeneity. Methods: An artificial intelligence (AI)-assisted systematic review and Bayesian multivariate meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials (RCTs) was performed to evaluate 0.01% atropine in children. An AI pipeline was employed for literature screening, deduplication and structured data extraction. The primary outcomes were annualised changes in spherical equivalent refraction (SER, D/year) and axial length (AL, mm/year). Bayesian joint models synthesised SER and AL effects, explored heterogeneity with meta-regression and assessed the probability of clinically meaningful benefits. Results: The 17 RCTs included demonstrated that 0.01% atropine significantly reduced AL (mean deviation [MD] = 0.04 mm/year; 95% credible interval [CrI]: -0.02-0.06), whereas the effect on SER was modest and heterogeneous (MD = 0.07 D/year; 95% CrI: -0.04 to 0.18). Meta-regression indicated attenuated efficacy in older children, in cohorts with longer baseline AL and in more recent or Western trials. The probability of achieving clinically meaningful thresholds (≥0.25 D/year SER; ≥0.10 mm/year AL) was 68 and 72%, respectively. Sensitivity analyses confirmed robustness of results, though small-study bias was likely. Conclusion: The results revealed that 0.01% atropine confers modest suppression of AL in paediatric myopia, with refractive benefits less consistent and context dependent. Although safe and well tolerated, its clinical impact is limited compared with higher concentrations, and its optimal use may be as part of combination strategies or in younger, fast-progressing children.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What Socratic holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.