Is being small for gestational age at birth a predictive risk factor for retinopathy of prematurity? A study in Central Maharashtra, India

Background: Retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) is a leading cause of avoidable blindness in preterm infants. Born preterm with small gestation age (SGA) may be an additional risk factor for developing ROP. The study was conducted to evaluate the incidence, risk factors, and severity of ROP in SGA newborns admitted to the newborn nursery. Materials and methods: 91 preterm infants were screened for ROP in a prospective observational study conducted in a teaching hospital in central Maharashtra, India using the National Neonatology Forum of India criteria (NNF, 2010). Systemic risk factors and ocular findings were documented. The incidence, risk factors, and severity of ROP were compared between the SGA and appropriate for gestational age (AGA) newborns. Results: The incidence of ROP was 36.26% (total), 39.62% (SGA), and 31.57% (AGA) amongst screened infants. ROP was more common in babies with higher gestational age (35.4 weeks; p = 0.064) in the SGA group, and it was more in babies with lesser gestational age (32.2 weeks; p = 0.033) in the AGA group. There was no difference in the risk factors between the two groups on univariate and multivariate analysis. Conclusions: The incidence of ROP was higher in SGA infants than AGA infants in the present study. However, there was no difference in the risk factors and severity of ROP between the two groups