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. 2022 Jan 18;12(1):911.
doi: 10.1038/s41598-021-04616-7.

Ophthalmic complications in retinopathy of prematurity in the first decade of life in Korea using the national health insurance database

Eun Hee Hong #  1 , Yong Un Shin #  1 , Gi Hwan Bae  2 , Young Jin Choi  3 , Seong Joon Ahn  1 , Inah Kim  4 , Heeyoon Cho  5
Affiliations

Ophthalmic complications in retinopathy of prematurity in the first decade of life in Korea using the national health insurance database

Eun Hee Hong et al. Sci Rep. .

Abstract

The aim of this study is to investigate the epidemiology of ophthalmic complications of retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) after preterm birth using population-based database in South Korea. Using the National Health Insurance database, ophthalmic complications among premature infants born in 2007-2008 during their 10-year follow-up period were identified. Annual cumulative incidence rate and period prevalence of complications at each age were analyzed among those with ROP and those who underwent treatment for ROP (tROP). The hazard ratios (HRs) according to the presence of ROP and treatment for ROP were also analyzed. We identified 18,256 premature infants, 6995 of whom had ROP. The prevalence at 10th year for overall ophthalmic complications was 11.1% and 35.9% among ROP and tROP, respectively. Strabismus, amblyopia, and glaucoma were the three most common complications. The presence of ROP was associated with higher risk of complications (HR 1.53, 95%CI 1.44-1.61) among premature infants, and the presence of treatment for ROP was associated with higher risk of complications (HR 4.31, 95%CI 3.74-4.98) among ROP cases. This study reports the nationwide epidemiologic data on ophthalmic complications of ROP during the first decade of life, which will help advance our understandings and establish national strategies in managing ROP.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
The enrollment of study patients. Premature infants with a gestational age (GA) < 37 weeks who were born between 2007 and 2008 were enrolled.
Figure 2
Figure 2
The period prevalence of ophthalmic complications at each year of life among patients with ROP (A) and those treated for ROP (B). “Total” represents the cases with at least one of the complications (amblyopia, cataract, glaucoma, nystagmus, retinal detachment (RD), and strabismus). ROP, retinopathy of prematurity.
Figure 3
Figure 3
The hazard ratio plots of ophthalmic complications according to the presence of ROP among premature infants (A) and treatment for ROP among ROP infants (B). ROP, retinopathy of prematurity.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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