Abstract
Purpose :
To determine the prevalence of eye conditions in children admitted to a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), compared to a population sample of children without a history of NICU admission.
Methods :
The Sydney Paediatric Eye Disease Study (SPEDS) examined a population-based sample of children aged between 6 months and 6 years (n=2462) and the Sydney Myopia Study (SMS) examined children aged 6 years from a population-based cluster sample of 34 schools (n=1765). All children underwent an age appropriate comprehensive ocular examination including; cover test, visual acuity, slit lamp, dilated OCT and fundus exam. Refractive error was measured using cyclopentolate 1%, Canon RK-F1 autorefractor or cycloplegic retinoscopy. Children were grouped according to those who had been admitted to NICU after birth and those who had not. Statistical analyses were performed using IBM SPSS Statistics 22
Results :
Of the 2446 children included in the analysis, 150 had been admitted to NICU in infancy. There was a significantly higher prevalence of strabismus in children admitted to NICU (6.7%) compared to those who were not (2.8%, p=0.007). The prevalence of refractive errors was also significantly greater in children admitted to NICU (p=0.007), with this difference reflecting a higher prevalence of myopia (6.8% compared to 2.4%), while the prevalence of hyperopia was similar (12.8% vs. 12.7%). Anisometropia >1D between eyes was also significantly more prevalent in children admitted to NICU (6.8% compared to 1.9%, p<0.0001). Amblyopia was detected in 1.6% of NICU children, this did not differ from the normal population (1.1%, p= 0.63). Visual acuity was only statistically different to the normal population at 24-48 months (p=0.002), but no difference was found in other age groups. The prevalence of ocular pathologies such as congenital hypertrophy of retinal pigment epithelium and pupillary membrane in NICU children (6.7%) did not differ from the normal population (5.4%, p=0.52). Overall, the prevalence of ocular signs and conditions in children admitted to NICU was 28.7%, which did not significantly differ from the normal population (23.5%, p=0.15).
Conclusions :
There was an increased prevalence of strabismus, myopia and anisometropia within children admitted to NICU. This may be related to common risk factors such as low birth weight, prematurity and multiple birth amongst children admitted to NICU.
This is an abstract that was submitted for the 2018 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Honolulu, Hawaii, April 29 - May 3, 2018.