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Purpose

The detection of Type 1 retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) usually relies on repeated eye exams. A potentially more efficient strategy would be to use telemedicine, with remotely evaluated retinal digital images. Although this approach has been adopted by some neonatal intensive care units (NICUs), little is known about the relative comparative effectiveness. The objective is to compare expected outcomes from different Type 1 ROP detection approaches.

Methods

We used a microsimulation model with weekly cycles to simulate ROP status and detection strategy outcomes. We simulated a cohort of 650 infants, the typical number of annual admissions to NICUs affiliated with children's hospitals, using probabilities taken from the e-ROP study (n= 1,257 from Level III NICUs). We assumed that evaluation for ROP would begin at post-menstrual age (PMA) 32 weeks for those with GA< 30 weeks and at 34 weeks …