Author: Msall, ME, et al.
Source: PEDIATRICS, Volume 106, No. 5, November 2000, pages 998-1005
This article reports results from a large multicenter study that followed more than a thousand very low birthweight (less than 1250 grams) preterm infants over the first 5.5 years of life.
As part of the study, these researchers determined which children developed retinopathy of prematurity (ROP), a condition that can lead to decreased vision or blindness in the affected eye, and then compared their development to the other study children who did not have ROP.
Follow up assessments included eye exams, visual function testing, and developmental testing using the Functional Indpendence Measure for Children (WeeFIM).
Findings showed that 55% of the children who were effectively blind from their ROP had severe disability while most (91%) of those who had good vision in at least one eye were functionally normal compared to non-disabled peers.
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