Abstract
BackgroundTo identify the prevention situation, the main factors influencing prevention effects and to develop control measures over retinopathy of prematurity in China.MethodsUsing stratified random sampling method, we randomly selected 23 provincial and ministerial hospitals (8 in Guangdong province, 5 in Hunan province and 10 in Shaanxi province), 81 municipal hospitals (38 in Guangdong province, 19 in Hunan province and 24 in Shaanxi province), 180 district and county hospitals (76 in Guangdong province, 57 in Hunan province and 47 in Shaanxi province) in China. A total of 284 hospitals were enrolled in the study, with questionnaires distributed investigating the status and constrain factors of ROP presentation. Significant outcomes were analyzed thereafter by SPSS 19.0.ResultsThe screening rate of ROP in medical institutions from eastern, central and western China were 84.6%, 35.0% and 56.7%, respectively. The screening rate of tertiary and secondary medical institutions were 84.6% and 25.7% in the eastern, 35.0% and 4.9% in the central, 56.7% and 5.9% in the western region. Screening was carried out better in the tertiary than that in the secondary and primary institutions. Treatment for ROP was available in 15.7% of all the tertiary hospitals surveyed. Lack of professionals, equipments and technologies were considered to be major restrain factors for screening.ConclusionsThe ROP screening and treatment status have demonstrated significant regional diversity due to uneven distribution of medical resources in China. Developed areas had established intraregional cooperation models, whereas less-developed areas should consider set up a large-scale, three-level ROP prevention network. It is of paramount importance that education and training towards ophthalmologists should be vigorously strengthened. It is strongly recommended that implement ROP telemedicine and integrated ROP prevention and management platforms through the Internet should be established.
Highlights
To identify the prevention situation, the main factors influencing prevention effects and to develop control measures over retinopathy of prematurity in China
Retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) is one of the common complications that develops in infants born prematurely, which can eventually lead to retinal detachment and blindness in severe cases
Two hundred eighty-four medical institutions obtained by sampling were studied as our research subjects, with the inclusion criterion of hospitals setting up with Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) or eye hospitals providing with ROP services
Summary
To identify the prevention situation, the main factors influencing prevention effects and to develop control measures over retinopathy of prematurity in China. Retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) is one of the common complications that develops in infants born prematurely, which can eventually lead to retinal detachment and blindness in severe cases. Xu et al BMC Ophthalmology (2018) 18:44 on the blind schools of Guangzhou [6] and Shanghai [7] have both described that ROP ranks the No. cause of blindness, with the proportion of 32.88% and 18.2% in the two places, respectively. Standard screening and timely treatment of ROP are urgently needed to prevent premature infants from being blind. This study aimed to investigate the status, existing problems and critical factors of prevention and treatment for ROP in premature infants in China, and to explore suitable counter measures
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