ArticleBMJ open ophthalmology2025
Screening for retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) in South Africa: data from a newly established prospective regional register.
Article in BMJ open ophthalmology, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.
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Who cites it
4 citing papers in PubMed.
- 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
- Factors associated with loss to follow-up in retinopathy of prematurity screening referrals at a South African tertiary hospital: A retrospective cohort study.Journal of the colleges of medicine of South Africa · 2026Article
- Surviving Extremely Low Birth Weight Infants Have a Higher Risk of ROP in Sub-Saharan Africa.Acta paediatrica (Oslo, Norway : 1992) · 2025Article
- Screening for retinopathy of prematurity in South Africa: are those developing severe ROP screened on time? Data from a prospective register.BMJ open ophthalmology · 2025Article
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Authors and funding
9 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveRetinopathy of prematurity (ROP) registers enable population-based studies to monitor ROP screening programmes to improve their effectiveness. The aim of this study was to determine the frequency of ROP and the coverage of screening in a South African cohort using a prospective ROP South African (ROPSA) register. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: Infants born from 1 May 2022 to 31 January 2023 and screened prospectively for ROP at five neonatal intensive care units in Cape Town were included. The screening criteria were a gestational age (GA) <32 weeks or birth weight (BW) <1250 g. Data were extracted from the ROPSA register and analysed.
results696 of 1154 (60.3%) eligible infants were screened, almost half of whom (45.7%) did not complete screening. ROP was detected in 220 infants (31.6%, 95% CI 28.3% to 35.3%), 7 (1.0%) of whom required treatment. Infants with incomplete screening had a lower mean GA than those who completed screening; 28.7 (SD 1.6, range 25-33) and 29.1 (SD 1.7, range 24-36) weeks, respectively (p=0.004) and a lower mean BW; 1048 (SD 203, range 650-1690) g and 1108.5 (SD 227, range 640-1840) g, respectively (p<0.001).
conclusionsData from the ROPSA register on the frequency of any ROP and treatment-requiring ROP may be biased due to low screening coverage and high incomplete screening. Reasons need to be explored and corrective interventions initiated. The ROPSA register will enable the impact of these interventions to be monitored. The findings of this study will contribute to the ongoing revision of South African national ROP screening guidelines.
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