ASSOCIATION OF BREASTFEEDING WITH THE RISK OF RETINOPATHY OF PREMATURITY
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.69656/pjp.v22i2.1923Keywords:
Breastfeed, Formula feed, Prematurity, Retinopathy of prematurityAbstract
Background: Premature neonates are at risk of various health complications. The objective of this study was to find out the association of breastfeeding in development of retinopathy of prematurity (ROP). Methodology: This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted at Paediatric Unit of Institute of Mother and Child Health (IMCH), Nawabshah. The study participants were divided into two groups based on their feeding type as breastfed group (exclusively breastfed infants) and formula fed group (>60% per day formula milk feed). Ophthalmoscopy was done with a binocular indirect ophthalmoscope for evidence of retinopathy. Data was analysed on SPSS-20. Results: The baseline characteristics among both groups were same with almost no significant association except the stage of ROP and weight at discharge. The frequency of developing ROP was more among infants who were on formula feed (38.3%) as compared to infants on breastfeed (31.2%) but the results were non-significant. Most of the infants developed stage 2 or stage 3 ROP among formula feed group (23.3%) in comparison to breastfeed infants (8.8%). The severity of ROP reported strong significant association among the groups (p<0.05). The multivariate logistic regression analysis reported that the type of feeding was a strong predictor of severity of ROP (stage 2 or 3). Conclusion: Development of ROP is more frequent among formula fed infants as compared to infants on breastfeed, but no significant association was found. However, the severity of ROP had significant association with type of feeding.
Pak J Physiol 2026;22(2):107–10, DOI: https://doi.org/10.69656/pjp.v22i2.1923
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Copyright (c) 2026 Naseer Ahmad Memon, Azizullah Langah, Ameer Ali Jamali, Munawar Ali Siyal, Arshad Ali Lakho, Habibullah Siyal
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