Demographic profile of suspected retinopathy of prematurity babies among the neonates of neonatal intensive care unit at a tertiary care hospital in Central India – A retrospective case record based analysis

Introduction: Retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) is a disease of preterm or premature neonates, who have low birth weight (LBW) with or without other comorbidities. It is a Vaso proliferative disorder occurring due to exposure of premature vasculature to normal environmental oxygen or prolonged exposure to higher percentages of oxygen. A study on the demographic profile would indicate the risk factors determining the disease’s development. Aim: To study the demographic profile of babies screened for ROP in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) tertiary care hospital in Central India. Materials and Methods: Aretrospective case record-based analysis was conducted in the NICU of Government Medical Hospital, Nagpur. All Babies referred for ROP screening from September 01, 2019 to October 31, 2020 were included in the study. For statistical analysis, IBM SPSS Statistics for Windows, Version 26.0 (IBM Corporation, Armonk, New York, USA) was used. Analyses were done through Chi-square test, Kolmogorov–Smirnov test and independent t -test. A P < 0.05 is taken as significant. Results: 115 babies, 57 males, and 58 females were screened. The mean gestational age (GA) was 32.2 weeks ± 20 days, mean birth weight was 1573 g ± 551 g, Average SPO2 was 93.66% ± 7.68%, Oxygen exposure was 98.39% ± 1.86%, and the duration was 4.8 days. SPO2 is the average daily SPO2 maintained while the baby was on O2 supplementation. Average head Circumference, chest circumference, and length were 31.422 ± 1.837 cm, 29.730 ± 1.842 cm, and 44.274 ± 3.751 cm, respectively. 20 babies (17.39%) were anemic and 15 (13.04%) hyperbilirubinemia, 100 (87%) were <2500 g that is, LBW, and 98 (85.2%) were preterm (<37 weeks). Significant association was found between Preterm gestation, hypoxia, low anthropometric measurements, and ROP. Conclusion: ROP is a disease of interest to all researchers. Our study reveals an association with new parameters such as anthropometric measurements of the neonate. Periodic investigation needs to be made into the demographic profile, to gauge the need to change the existing neonatal care/screening and ophthalmological treatments. Longitudinal large-scale multicentric studies are recommended.