Objective: To study the incidence of retinopathy of prematurity [ROP] and factors associated with ROP at 5 different hospitals in the 7^th health region of Thailand and to propose ROP screening criteria with higher sensitivity for ROP detection suitable for the region.

Materials and Methods: A retrospective descriptive study conducted by reviewing the results of screening eye examinations of 662 infants obtained from the included hospitals during October 2013 to September 2014.

Results: From the present study, 338 infants (58.6%) were males with mean birth weight of 1,604±525 grams and mean gestational age of 31.8±2.9 weeks. The regional overall rate of ROP was 31.7% and ROP rate was statistically significant higher in infants with birth weight less than 1,500 grams (46.8% vs. 19.1%, p<0.001) and gestational age less than 32 weeks (47.0% vs. 20.7%, p<0.001). The hospital where the infant admitted was also a significant factor, while the survival rate was not statistically significant associated with rate of ROP. Suggested criteria for ROP screening eye examination were infants with birth weight less than 1,935 grams or gestational age less than 34 weeks which would have sensitivity for ROP detection at 90.0% and 91.4%, respectively.

Conclusion: The rate of ROP was different among hospitals which could be related to different practices in neonatal care and should be studied furthermore. Criteria for screening eye examination should be adjusted for each hospital to improve the sensitivity for ROP detection with appropriate ophthalmologists’ workload.

Keywords: Retinopathy of prematurity, ROP, Risk factors, Criteria, ROP screening, Different hospital