Endocrine Abstracts

Objective: To determine the prevalence of retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) and identify associated risk factors among preterm infants admitted to the National Institute of Child Health (NICH), Karachi, Pakistan.

Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) of NICH, Karachi, from October 2020 to March 2021. Preterm infants with gestational age below 32 weeks were included. Diagnosis of ROP was made by indirect ophthalmoscopy after pupillary dilation, performed by an experienced ophthalmologist. Potential risk factors assessed included gestational age, gender, maternal education, socioeconomic status, sepsis, respiratory distress syndrome (RDS), anemia, oxygen dependency duration, and mechanical ventilation.

Results: Among 310 preterm infants (mean age 5.73 ± 1.49 days), 184 (59.3%) were male and 126 (40.6%) were female. ROP was diagnosed in 139 (44.8%) infants. Multivariate logistic regression analysis demonstrated a significantly higher risk of ROP in infants of illiterate mothers (aOR 3.31; 95% CI 1.08–10.17; P = 0.036) and in those with family income ≤ 45,000 PKR (aOR 3.70; 95% CI 1.40–9.76; P = 0.008). Female gender (aOR 0.12; 95% CI 0.04–0.31; P < 0.001), oxygen therapy ≤ 4 days (aOR 0.04; 95% CI 0.01–0.12; P < 0.001), and NICU stay ≤ 12 days (aOR 0.02; 95% CI 0.01–0.08; P < 0.001) were associated with significantly lower risk.

Conclusion: Nearly half of the preterm neonates developed ROP. Key contributing factors included maternal illiteracy, low socioeconomic status, prolonged oxygen dependency, and extended NICU stay. Early screening and preventive strategies targeting these factors may reduce the burden of ROP in preterm infants.

Keywords: Retinopathy of prematurity, Preterm infants, Risk factors, Neonatal intensive care, Socioeconomic status