ArticleBMC ophthalmology2023
Prevalence and pattern of retinopathy of prematurity at two national referral hospitals in Uganda: a cross-sectional study.
Article in BMC ophthalmology, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
5 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 8 citations in OpenAlex.
- Prevalence and associated factors of retinopathy of prematurity in sub‑Saharan Africa: a systematic review and meta‑analysis.BMC ophthalmology · 2025Pooled it
- Variations in prevalence of retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) and completeness of screening in five units within a South African region: a register-based study.Eye (London, England) · 2026Observational
- Oxygen blenders for prevention of retinopathy of prematurity are highly cost-effective in Uganda.Frontiers in medicine · 2026Article
- Surviving Extremely Low Birth Weight Infants Have a Higher Risk of ROP in Sub-Saharan Africa.Acta paediatrica (Oslo, Norway : 1992) · 2025Article
- Do neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) health workers know about retinopathy of prematurity (ROP)? A qualitative study at a Regional Referral Hospital in Uganda.BMJ paediatrics open · 2025Article
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28 authors at 12 institutions in 6 countries.
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Abstract
backgroundRetinopathy of prematurity (ROP) is a leading cause of blindness in children and an ROP epidemic is predicted this decade in sub-Saharan Africa. With the increasing survival rate of preterm babies in Uganda, and no data on ROP prevalence, there is a need to assess the burden of ROP to inform preventive strategies and targeted screening.
methodsWe conducted a two-center cross-sectional study of preterm (< 37 weeks gestational age) infants from the neonatal units of Kawempe National Referral Hospital (KNRH) and Mulago Specialised Women and Neonatal Hospital (MSWNH) from August 2022 to October 2022. An ophthalmologist examined all participants using an indirect ophthalmoscope with a + 20D convex lens and captured digital images using a Volk iNview™ Fundus Camera. The collected data were entered into Epidata 4.2 and exported to Stata 14.0 for analysis.
results331 preterm infants enrolled in this study. The oxygen received was unblended. The mean gestational age was 30.4 ± 2.7 weeks, and the mean birth weight was 1597 ± 509 g. 18/101 (17.8%) were found to have any ROP amongst the preterm infants recruited from MSWNH, 1/230 (0.4%) from KNRH [95% CI] had any stage of ROP (i.e. stage 5). Of these, 8 (42.1%) had stage 2 ROP. Infants with a birth weight below 1500 g were 10 times more likely to have ROP than those among infants with a birth weight more than 1500 g [AOR: 10.07 (2.71-37.44)]. Infants who were not fed exclusively on breast milk had higher odds of having ROP than those exclusively fed on breast milk [AOR: 7.82(1.92-31.82)].
conclusion6% of preterm infants born in two tertiary hospitals in Uganda were found to have ROP. Lack of exclusive feeding on breast milk and birth weight of less than 1500 g were strong predictors of ROP. The higher prevalence of ROP in MSWNH calls for cautious use of oxygen among preterms. We recommend targeted ROP screening for those at risk.
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