title: Improving Follow-up of Infants during Retinopathy of Prematurity Screening in Rural Areas.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the challenges of completing and improving follow-up in an retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) screening program in rural centers.
  
  
  METHODS
  Reasons for dropout from a multi-center ROP screening program in rural Karnataka, over two six-month periods, were collected and categorized. Improvement measures introduced between the two periods and its impact was analyzed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Reasons pertaining to travel and logistics (15 of 53, 28.3%) and those related to awareness, knowledge and attitude (30 of 53, 56.6%) were the two main categories of reasons for dropout. Following corrective measures, there was a reduction in attrition from 20.8% to 3.8% (P <0.001). Pediatricians' role in ensuring follow-up remained an important persisting reason.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Customizing improvement measures addressing the challenges of rural geographical logistics and enhancing awareness among rural families can enhance participation and improve follow-up.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatric Retina, Narayana Nethralaya Eye Institute, Bangalore and #Advanced Eye Centre, PGIMER, Chandigarh, India. Correspondence to: Dr Anand Vinekar, Program Director -KIDROP, Head, Department of Pediatric Retina, Narayana Nethralaya Eye Institute, Bangalore, India. anandvinekar@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Anand
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Vinekar
authors.forename: Chaitra
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Jayadev
authors.forename: Mangat
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Dogra
authors.forename: Bhujang
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Shetty
mesh_terms: D001766:Blindness / Q000517:prevention & control; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006293:Health Promotion; D006801:Humans; D007194:India; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007234:Infant, Premature; D015997:Neonatal Screening; D012178:Retinopathy of Prematurity / Q000175:diagnosis*; D012424:Rural Population / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D017216:Telemedicine