{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,30]],"date-time":"2026-07-30T15:02:55Z","timestamp":1785423775846,"version":"3.56.0"},"reference-count":16,"publisher":"AOSIS","issue":"1","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,8,15]],"date-time":"2025-08-15T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1755216000000},"content-version":"unspecified","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":[],"abstract":"<jats:p>Background: Retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) is a potentially blinding disorder. South Africa (SA) has national ROP screening guidelines to aid the timely diagnosis of infants requiring treatment. Several tertiary units in SA have published data on the prevalence of ROP; however, data from some provinces are lacking. An audit of ROP screening programmes, especially in these areas, is important to determine the ROP prevalence and whether screening is based on the national criteria.\n\nMethods: This retrospective audit included infants screened between 01 January 2019 and 30 June 2021 at a single tertiary unit in the Limpopo province, SA. The following criteria were used to identify eligible infants: birth weight (BW) &lt; 1500 g or gestational age (GA) &lt; 32 weeks.\n\nResults: A total of 203 infants were screened. The mean BW and GA were 1250 grams (s.d. 239.0) and 30.4 weeks (s.d. 2.43), respectively. Nine (4.4%) infants were diagnosed with ROP and 2 (1.0%) infants required treatment. Most (95.1%,193) infants met the screening criteria. Screening was completed in 158 (77.8%) infants and 44 (22.0%) were lost to follow-up (LTFU).\n\nConclusion: Although eligible infants were identified based on the national criteria, a low prevalence of ROP was found among screened infants. This is likely because of lack of screening, late screening and high LTFU.\n\nContribution: This study shows the value and importance of auditing ROP screening programmes even in countries with national screening guidelines to identify areas for improvement.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.4102\/jcmsa.v3i1.220","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,8,14]],"date-time":"2025-08-14T13:48:14Z","timestamp":1755179294000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.4102\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["Audit of a retinopathy of prematurity screening programme in the Limpopo province, South Africa"],"prefix":"10.4102","volume":"3","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0005-4188-7108","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Ntsakisi","family":"Bandi","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/03p74gp79","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}],"name":"University of Cape Town"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-1467-2639","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Christopher","family":"Sutton","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/017p87168","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}],"name":"University of Limpopo"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-4712-453X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Tshilidzi","family":"van der Lecq","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/03p74gp79","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}],"name":"University of Cape Town"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"2580","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,8,15]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref0","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Foster A, Gilbert C. Epidemiology of childhood blindness. Eye. 1992;6(2):173\u2013176. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1038\/eye.1992.34","DOI":"10.1038\/eye.1992.34"},{"key":"ref1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Blencowe H, Cousens S, Oestergaard MZ, et al. National, regional, and worldwide estimates of preterm birth rates in the year 2010 with time trends since 1990 for selected countries: A systematic analysis and implications. Lancet. 2012;379(9832):2162\u20132172. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1016\/s0140-6736(12)60820-4","DOI":"10.1016\/S0140-6736(12)60820-4"},{"key":"ref2","unstructured":"Survive and thrive: Transforming care for every small and sick newborn. Key findings. Geneve: World Health Organization; 2018 [cited 2023 Oct 22]. Available from: https:\/\/iris.who.int\/bitstream\/handle\/10665\/276655\/WHO-FWC-MCA-18.11-eng.pdf"},{"key":"ref3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Dadoo Z, Ballot D. An evaluation of the screening for retinopathy of prematurity in very-low-birth-weight babies at a tertiary hospital in Johannesburg, South Africa. S Afr J Child Health. 2016;10(1):79\u201382. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.7196\/SAJCH.2016.v10i1.1099","DOI":"10.7196\/SAJCH.2016.v10i1.1099"},{"key":"ref4","unstructured":"Delport SD, Swanepoel JC, Odendaal PJ, et al. Incidence of retinopathy of prematurity in very-low-birth-weight infants born at Kalafong Hospital, Pretoria. S Afr Med J. 2002;92(12):986\u2013990."},{"key":"ref5","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Keraan Q, Tinley C, Horn A, et al. Retinopathy of prematurity in a cohort of neonates at Groote Schuur Hospital, Cape Town, South Africa. S Afr Med J. 2016;107(1):64\u201369.","DOI":"10.7196\/SAMJ.2016.v107.i1.11226"},{"key":"ref6","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Jacoby MR, Du Toit L. Screening for retinopathy of prematurity in a provincial hospital in Port Elizabeth, South Africa. S Afr Med J. 2016;106(6).","DOI":"10.7196\/SAMJ.2016.v106i6.10663"},{"key":"ref7","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Visser Kift, E, Freeman, N, Cook, C, et al. Retinopathy of prematurity screening criteria and workload implications at Tygerberg Children\u2019s Hospital, South Africa: A cross-sectional study. S Afr Med J. 2016;106(6):64\u201369.","DOI":"10.7196\/SAMJ.2016.v106i6.10358"},{"key":"ref8","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Mayet I, Cockinos C. Retinopathy of prematurity in South Africans at a tertiary hospital: A prospective study. Eye (Lond). 2006;20(1):29\u201331. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1038\/sj.eye.6701779","DOI":"10.1038\/sj.eye.6701779"},{"key":"ref9","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Seobi T, Maposa I, Makgotloe MA. Retinopathy of prematurity screening in Johannesburg, South Africa: A comparative study. Afr Vis Eye Health. 2022;81(1):5.","DOI":"10.4102\/aveh.v81i1.771"},{"key":"ref10","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Group CfRoPC. 15-Year outcomes following threshold retinopathy of prematurity. Arch Ophthalmol. 2005;123(3):311\u2013318. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1001\/archopht.123.3.311","DOI":"10.1001\/archopht.123.3.311"},{"key":"ref11","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Revised indications for the treatment of retinopathy of prematurity: Results of the early treatment for retinopathy of prematurity randomized trial. Arch Ophthalmol. 2003;121(12):1684\u20131694. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1001\/archopht.121.12.1684","DOI":"10.1001\/archopht.121.12.1684"},{"key":"ref12","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Visser L, Singh R, Young M, et al. Guideline for the prevention, screening and treatment of retinopathy of prematurity (ROP). S Afr Med J. 2012;103(2):116\u2013125.","DOI":"10.7196\/SAMJ.6305"},{"key":"ref13","unstructured":"Du Bruyn, AVL. Eight years of treatable retinopathy of prematurity in KwaZulu-Natal: Are we winning the battle?. S Afr Ophthamol J. 2017;12(2):8\u201310."},{"key":"ref14","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Chiang MF, Quinn GE, Fielder AR, et al. International classification of retinopathy of prematurity, Third Edition. Ophthalmology. 2021;128(10):e51\u2013e68. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1016\/j.ophtha.2021.05.031","DOI":"10.1016\/j.ophtha.2021.05.031"},{"key":"ref15","unstructured":"Hamese M, Mashego M, Shipalana N, et al. Factors associated with preterm very low birthweight infant mortality at a tertiary hospital in Limpopo Province, South Africa. S Afr J Child Health. 2020;14(1):10\u201314."}],"container-title":["Journal of the Colleges of Medicine of South Africa"],"original-title":[],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,8,18]],"date-time":"2025-08-18T05:10:08Z","timestamp":1755493808000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/jcmsa.org.za\/index.php\/jcmsa\/article\/view\/220"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2025,8,15]]},"references-count":16,"journal-issue":{"issue":"1","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,1,1]]}},"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.4102\/jcmsa.v3i1.220","relation":{},"ISSN":["2960-110X"],"issn-type":[{"value":"2960-110X","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2025,8,15]]},"article-number":"a220"}}