Visual impairment burden in retinopathy of prematurity: trends, inequalities, and improvement gaps

Abstract

Retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) is an important cause of avoidable childhood visual impairment, and the increase in number and survival of premature infants may inflate its burden globally. We aimed to comprehensively assess the trends and inequalities in the burden of ROP-related visual impairment and to identify improvement gaps to facilitate appropriate actions in neonatal care systems. We obtained ROP data from the Global Burden of Disease 2019 study. We employed joinpoint regression analysis to assess the trends of the burden of ROP-related visual impairment, measured by age-standardised prevalence rates, health equity analysis methods to evaluate cross-country burden inequalities, and data envelopment and stochastic frontier analyses to identify improvement gaps based on the development status, i.e., sociodemographic index (SDI). Between 1990 and 2019, the age-standardised prevalence rates of ROP-related visual impairment significantly increased worldwide (average annual percentage change: 0.23 [95% confidence interval, 0.21-0.26] among males and 0.26 [0.25-0.27] among females), primarily in developed regions. Although significant SDI-related cross-country inequalities were identified, these reduced over time (slope index of inequality: -57.74 [-66.22 to -49.25] in 1990 to -29.68 [-38.39 to -20.97] in 2019; health concentration index: -0.11 [-0.13 to -0.09] in 1990 to -0.07 [-0.09 to -0.06] in 2019). Notably, some less-developed countries exhibited superior performance despite limited resources, whereas others with a higher SDI delivered lagging performance. Conclusion: The global burden of ROP-related visual impairment has steadily increased between 1990 and 2019, with disproportionate burden concentration among less-developed countries, requiring appropriate preventive and intervention measures. What is Known: • Retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) is an important cause of avoidable childhood visual impairment. • The prevalence of ROP is anticipated to increase due to the growing number of extremely premature infants. What is New: • The prevalence of ROP-related visual impairment has increased worldwide, primarily in developed regions, with declining but persisting cross-country inequalities. • The increasing burden of ROP-related visual impairment should be considered as part of global and national health agendas, requiring interventions with proven efficacy.

Keywords: Disease burden; Health inequalities; Improvement gaps; Retinopathy of prematurity; Trend analysis; Visual impairment.