Retinopathy of prematurity screening and treatment practice patterns: an African multi-country survey.

StudyGraefe's archive for clinical and experimental ophthalmology = Albrecht von Graefes Archiv fur klinische und experimentelle Ophthalmologie· Jul 2026

Retinopathy of prematurity screening and treatment practice patterns: an African multi-country survey.

Jonathan Malcolm, David Ngabo, Elie Nziyomaze … Michael A Mikhail

Read paper

Pediatric OphthalmologyStudyClinical practiceQ1IF 3.1

Over half of African facilities lack formal referral pathways for retinopathy of prematurity.

Retinopathy of prematurity screening and treatment practice patterns: an African multi-country survey.

Jonathan Malcolm … Michael A Mikhail

Graefe's archive for clinical and experimental ophthalmology · Jul 2026 · Q1 in Ophthalmology

Purpose

This study aimed to assess current retinopathy of prematurity (retinopathy of prematurity) screening and treatment practices among healthcare professionals across Africa.

Methods

An online in-depth survey consisting primarily of multiple-choice questions was sent to ophthalmologists and healthcare professionals involved in retinopathy of prematurity care across Africa via professional networks, social media and word-of-mouth recommendations.

n = 62 respondents

51.6%

Results

51.6%

More than half of African facilities lack formal connections between newborn and eye care

n = 62 respondents

More results

Retinopathy of prematurity was considered a current or emerging public health problem by 95.2% of respondents.

Anti-VEGF and laser photocoagulation were available for 90.3% and 56.5% of respondents, respectively.

Vitreoretinal services were located more than 200 km away or outside the country for 31.6% of respondents.

More results

Notably, 95.2% expressed interest in further training or participation in a regional retinopathy of prematurity network.

“

Conclusion · 1 of 2

Retinopathy of prematurity practice patterns across Africa remain heterogeneous and are constrained, in many settings, by limited access to laser photocoagulation, inadequate integration with neonatal services, and gaps in formal training.

Conclusion · 2 of 2

The widespread use of anti-VEGF as first-line therapy across all stages of disease raises concern in settings where loss to follow-up is common.

Retinopathy of prematurity screening and treatment practice patterns: an African multi-country survey.

Retinopathy of prematurity screening and treatment practice patterns: an African multi-country survey.

Related papers