Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41970396›Full record

ArticleFrontiers in medicine2026

Oxygen blenders for prevention of retinopathy of prematurity are highly cost-effective in Uganda.

Sean R Smith, Victoria Nakibuuka, K Davina Frick, Yvonne E Vaucher, Rhea Gandhi, Michael P Blair, Anna L Ells, Rebecca Lusobya, Lucy Namakula, Iddi Ndyabawe and 3 more

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Frontiers in medicine, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

13 authors.

Sean R SmithPritzker School of Medicine, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, United States.
Victoria NakibuukaSt. Francis Hospital Nsambya, Kampala, Uganda.
K Davina FrickDepartment of Health Policy and Management, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, United States.
Yvonne E VaucherDivision of Neonatology, Department of Pediatrics, University of California, San Diego, San Diego, CA, United States.
Rhea GandhiUC Irvine School of Medicine, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA, United States.
Michael P BlairRetina Consultants Ltd., Des Plaines, IL, United States.
Anna L EllsCalgary Retina Consultants, Department of Surgery, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada.
Rebecca LusobyaMulago National Referral Hospital, Kampala, Uganda.
Lucy NamakulaSt. Francis Hospital Nsambya, Kampala, Uganda.
Iddi NdyabaweDepartment of Ophthalmology, King Ceasor University, Kampala and Kisubi Hospital, Entebbe, Uganda.
Denis ErimaLubaga Hospital, Kampala, Uganda.
Sherwin J IsenbergJules Stein Eye Institute, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, United States.
Sarah H RodriguezDepartment of Ophthalmology and Visual Science, University of Chicago Medicine, Chicago, IL, United States.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Blended oxygen has been shown to reduce severe retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) incidence worldwide, and more recently in Uganda. Although it has been established that ROP-driven visual impairment has a substantial societal burden and that screening and treatment programs are cost-effective in low- and middle-income countries, there is limited evidence for the economic impact of prevention with appropriate oxygen management equipment (OME) in these regions. We performed a cost-utility analysis of OME implementation comparing variations ranging between most and least favorable values. Disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) were calculated with a 3% discount rate. Calculations assumed a 62.1% incidence of visual impairment in untreated severe ROP and a disability weight of 0.184 for severe visual impairment due to ROP. One set of OME costs between $677.50-$1,844.11 USD in Uganda. We found that the cost to prevent one case of ROP-driven severe visual impairment in Uganda ranges from $25.55-$543.99, with a base case (best estimate) of $168.92 per case averted. This reflects 5.18 DALYs averted over the 58-year average Ugandan lifespan and a cost of $4.97-$104.98 to avert one DALY, with a base case of $32.60 per DALY averted. In comparison, prevention of malaria via mosquito net distribution was estimated in a 2020 meta-analysis to cost $50 for every DALY averted. The high-end estimate is roughly 10% of the annual gross domestic product per capita ($1,002.30). Therefore, OME is a cost-effective means to prevent severe visual impairment among infants in Uganda. Implementation of OME in Uganda would also reflect a clear ethical and humanitarian success.

Indexed as

cost-effectivenesscost-utilityhealth economicsoxygen blenderpretermpreventionretinopathy of prematurityUganda

Identifiers

PMID41970396
PMCPMC13067967

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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 OpenQuestion graph.