Incidence of retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) and risk factors associated to ROP in rural area

Aim: Study of incidence, clinical staging and risk factors of ROP in rural area. Materials and Methods: All premature new born infants at R.L.J. H Kolar were screened between July 2008 and June 2009.The incidence, clinical staging and associated risk factors were studied. We compared our statistics with urban area statistics from literature. Results: 210 children were screened. (43%) of them were diagnosed as ROP amongst which (50%) of them were having stage 1 ROP, (33%) stage 2, (15%) of them were having APROP. 22.5% of them had risk factors among them PIH (40%), anaemia (30%) were common. Conclusions: Incidence and risk factors are high in rural area compared to urban, so all premature infants should be screened thoroughly