Counselling and Follow up of Retinopathy of Prematurity Patients

Being the text of a presentation during the breakfast symposium which held during the 47th Annual Scientific Conference of the Ophthalmological Society of Nigeria on 31st August 2023.

Abstract

Retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) is a vasoproliferative disorder of the developing retina
blood vessels in preterm infants. It is an avoidable cause of childhood blindness. Regular and
effective counseling and follow up by the ROP team is critical to ROP blindness prevention efforts which should commence once the child is admitted in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). Good communication with parents is critical. Parents who are more aware of their child’s condition, and engaged in their care are more likely to bring their child back for follow-up. The active engagement of parents can, therefore, make all the difference between success and failure in preserving their child’s vision. One of the major reasons for failure of screening, delay in treatment and development of blindness is poor follow up. Strategies to enhance follow up visits include provision of ROP cards with scheduled dates of visit at the time of discharge. Informational posters and leaflets about ROP in local language can be displayed in waiting areas of neonatal and eye clinics for parents to read. Staff should talk to mothers nicely at the outpatient clinics and provision of feeding areas for mothers will encourage interaction between mothers. Creating awareness and counselling encourages follow up visits and helps prevent vision loss from ROP. The success of any ROP program depends on the team’s ability to communicate essential information regarding ROP in accordance with the parents’ socioeconomic background and also in a language they are familiar with.