The impact of a multidisciplinary intervention to reduce severe retinopathy of prematurity in kampala, uganda

ABSTRACT BACKGROUND To address the threat of retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), the Stop Infant Blindness in Africa (SIBA) project introduced a comprehensive

program, including subspecialty training and oxygen management equipment. METHODS A before-and-after retrospective cohort study compared preterm infants < 1750 g or < 34 weeks’

gestation before (2022) and after (2023) program implementation. Outcomes included: the proportion with severe ROP, the proportion with Zone III vascularization on first examination, and

factors associated with severe ROP. RESULTS Overall, 140 infants were screened before and 122 after program implementation. The proportion with Zone III vascularization increased from 16.1%

(_N_ = 11) pre-intervention to 44.9% (_N_ = 32) post-intervention (_p_ = 0.001). The proportion with severe ROP decreased from 27.8% (_N_ = 19) to 12.8% (_N_ = 9, _p_ = 0.03). Factors

predicting severe ROP on adjusted analyses were gestational age and blood transfusion. CONCLUSION In SSA, introduction of a comprehensive program to prevent and treat ROP can decrease the

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Contact customer support SIMILAR CONTENT BEING VIEWED BY OTHERS OPTIMIZATION OF RETINOPATHY OF PREMATURITY SCREENING IN A TERTIARY NEONATAL UNIT IN NORTHERN GREECE BASED ON 16-YEAR DATA

Article 01 September 2021 VARIATIONS IN MEDICAL PRACTICE OF RETINOPATHY OF PREMATURITY AMONG 8 ASIAN COUNTRIES FROM AN INTERNATIONAL SURVEY Article Open access 20 September 2023 THE ROYAL

COLLEGE OF PAEDIATRICS AND CHILD HEALTH RETINOPATHY OF PREMATURITY SCREENING GUIDELINES (2022): A SERIES OF TREATED INFANTS FALLING OUTSIDE THE UPDATED CRITERIA Article 24 April 2024 DATA

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trial of cryotherapy for ROP (CRYO-ROP). Doc Ophthalmol. 1990;74:245–51. Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar  Download references ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This study was made possible in part by a

generous grant from the Knights Templar Eye Foundation to the Stop Infant Blindness in Africa Initiative (SIBA) of the Children’s Eye Foundation of the American Association for Pediatric

Ophthalmology and Strabismus and the International Strabismus and Pediatric Ophthalmology Council. In addition, the authors would like to thank the following nurses, without whom the ROP

program would not have been possible: Immaculate Nabwami, Olivia Nalule, Madrine Nabalira, Mary Kobusigye, Cleophas Kabatagweta, Kiganda Doreen, Mukisa Gloria, and Khalid. AUTHOR INFORMATION

AUTHORS AND AFFILIATIONS * St. Francis Hospital Nsambya, Kampala, P.O. Box 7146, Uganda Victoria Nakibuuka, Lucy Namakula & Sarah Kasozi * Division of Neonatology, Department of

Pediatrics, University of California San Diego, San Diego, CA, 92037-7774, USA Yvonne E. Vaucher * Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Science, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA

Jason Zhang, Mike P. Blair & Sarah H. Rodriguez * Calgary Retina Consultants, Department of Surgery, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, T2H 0C8, Canada Anna L. Ells * Retina

Consultants Ltd, Des Plaines, IL, USA Mike P. Blair * Jules Stein Eye Institute, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA Sherwin J. Isenberg *

Department of Ophthalmology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Palo Alto, CA, 94303, USA Scott R. Lambert Authors * Victoria Nakibuuka View author publications You can also search for

this author inPubMed Google Scholar * Yvonne E. Vaucher View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar * Lucy Namakula View author publications You can

also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar * Sarah Kasozi View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar * Jason Zhang View author publications

You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar * Anna L. Ells View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar * Mike P. Blair View author

publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar * Sherwin J. Isenberg View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar * Scott R.

Lambert View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar * Sarah H. Rodriguez View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed 

Google Scholar CONTRIBUTIONS All authors conceptualized the manuscript. LN and SK collected data. JZ, SHR, and YEV conducted data analysis. VNK, SHR, and YEV drafted the manuscript. All

authors critically reviewed the manuscript. CORRESPONDING AUTHOR Correspondence to Sarah H. Rodriguez. ETHICS DECLARATIONS COMPETING INTERESTS The authors declare no competing interests.

ETHICS APPROVAL AND CONSENT TO PARTICIPATE Both verbal and written informed consent was obtained from parents/guardians using their preferred English or local Luganda languages for the

study. IRB approval was obtained from the St Francis Hospital Nsambya Institutional research board and the National Research Board (IRB SFHN-2022-54). This research is in accordance with the

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permissions ABOUT THIS ARTICLE CITE THIS ARTICLE Nakibuuka, V., Vaucher, Y.E., Namakula, L. _et al._ The impact of a multidisciplinary intervention to reduce severe retinopathy of

prematurity in Kampala, Uganda. _J Perinatol_ 45, 208–212 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41372-024-02079-y Download citation * Received: 11 May 2024 * Revised: 16 July 2024 * Accepted: 24

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