Prevalence and Outcomes of Retinopathy of Premature Neonates in Iran: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Retinopathy of Prematurity (ROP) is a disease in the retina of premature infants, which is one of the preventable causes of blindness in children.

the present study is performed with the purpose of determining the prevalence and outcomes of ROP in Iran through a systematic review and meta-analysis. Study design: All original published articles on the prevalence of ROP in premature infants in Iran were included in the study. On the other hand, intervention articles, meta-analysis, case reports, congress articles, medical dissertations, and articles with low quality were excluded from the study.

53 articles were included in the meta-analysis stage. Based on the results, the overall prevalence of ROP in Iran was 22.2% (95% CI: 18.5-26.5); the overall prevalence of the disease in ZONE I was 10.5% (95% CI: 3.0-30.6), the overall prevalence of the disease was 45.5% (95% CI: 33.8-57.8) in ZONE II, and 43.8% (95% CI: 25.1-64.4) in ZONE III. Regarding the stage of the disease, rate of 39.9% (95% CI: 29.2–51.7) was reported in STAGE I, rate of 30.3% (95% CI: 21.8–40.5) in STAGE II, and 14.9% (95% CI: 11.0 -19.9) in STAGE III.

Considering the high prevalence of ROP in premature infants in Iran, it is suggested to take necessary preventive measures in this field.