Maternal and infantile risk factor profile of preterm infants screened for retinopathy of prematurity in a tertiary hospital

ABSTRACT

Objective@#To identify maternal and infantile risk factors for retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) among preterm infants screened in St. Luke’s Medical Center, Quezon City (SLMC-QC) from 2014-2017.@*Methods@#This was a retrospective study that included the ROP databank of the Eye Institute and the Research and Biotechnology Group of St. Luke’s Medical Center, Quezon City from 2014 to 2017. This study included medical records of all premature infants screened for ROP and excluded those who had incomplete data or other ocular pathologies other than ROP. Risk factors were analyzed using univariate analysis. Odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) were also calculated with significant P value set at <0.05.@*Results@#Among the 455 infants screened for ROP, 118 (25.9%) had any stage of ROP while 23 (5.0%) had treatment-warranted ROP (TW-ROP). Univariate regression analysis showed that the top 5 infantile risk factors associated with any stage of ROP and TW-ROP were low birth weight (97.5% and 100%, respectively), prematurity (87.3% and 100%, respectively), history of blood transfusion (21.2% and 13%, respectively), sepsis (21.2% and 17.4%, respectively), and oxygen supplementation (16.1% and 8.7%, respectively). After multivariate analyses, the most important adjusted risk factors associated with any stage of ROP include low birth weight (OR 52, CI 16.20166.96, P =0.001), prematurity (OR 25.73, CI 14.10-46.95, P =0.001), and history of blood transfusion (OR 8.79, CI 4.08-18.96, P =0.0001).@*Conclusion@#The most significant infantile risk factors associated with any ROP include low birth weight, prematurity, and history of blood transfusion. There were no significant probable maternal risk factors. Timely ROP screening is recommended especially among infants with any of these risk factors in their profile.