Conocimiento del personal sanitario sobre oxigenoterapia y la incidencia de retinopatía en prematuros

Abstract

Introduction: Healthcare personnel must know how to use oxygen therapy correctly to avoid retinopathy or adversely affect the evolution of premature newborns. Objectives: This study aimed to establish a direct correlation between the level of knowledge of healthcare personnel about oxygen therapy and the incidence of retinopathy of prematurity in Neonatal Units of two hospitals in the Lima region ­ Peru, in 2021. Methods: To achieve our objective, we conducted an observational analytical cross­sectional study. The sample consisted of health personnel from two Peruvian third­level hospitals located in the Lima region. After obtaining informed consent, we assessed the knowledge of oxygen therapy through a virtual questionnaire using REDCap (Research Electronic Data Capture). The incidence of retinopathy of prematurity was calculated using data from medical records. We used STATA version 17 for statistical analysis, ensuring the robustness of our findings. Results: 51 healthcare professionals voluntarily participated in the two hospitals. 18% of respondents in the first hospital and 45% in the second hospital had a good level of knowledge (p = 0.1067). The incidence of retinopathy of prematurity in the first hospital was 5.1 compared to the second hospital, with 5.9 per 100 preterm neonates (p = 0.754). Conclusions: Our study found no association between the level of up­to­date knowledge of oxygen therapy and a low incidence of retinopathy of prematurity in the two hospitals studied.