Global, regional and national burden of retinopathy of prematurity among childhood and adolescent: a spatiotemporal analysis based on the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019.

BACKGROUND

This study aimed to provide a comprehensive assessment of burden estimates and the secular trend of vision loss due to retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) among people younger than 20 years, at the global, regional and national levels.

METHODS

Data were obtained from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019 database. The average annual percentage change (AAPC) was calculated to quantify the temporal trends in the measures of vision loss.

RESULTS

In 2019, the global age-standardised rates (ASRs) of prevalence per 100 000 population was 86.4 for vision loss, specifically, 35 for moderate vision loss, 19.9 for severe vision loss, 31.6 for blindness due to ROP among people younger than 20 years. Moreover, the ASR of years lived with disability per 100 000 was 10.6 for vision loss, specifically, 1.1 for moderate vision loss, 3.6 for severe vision loss, 5.9 for blindness, respectively. From 1990 to 2019, the ASR of prevalence of blindness and vision loss due to ROP significantly increased, while its burden slightly decreased. Males showed higher ASR of prevalence than females in 2019, whereas females have larger increasing trend than males from 1990 to 2019. The global highest ASR of disease burden was observed in South Asia and Southern sub-Saharan Africa, as well as low sociodemographic index (SDI) regions in 2019.

CONCLUSIONS

Globally, although the burden decreased, the prevalence of childhood and adulthood vision loss due to ROP continues to increase. Reasonable resource allocation and advanced intervention are recommended to prevent and control the vision loss due to ROP.