retinopathy of prematurity screening: a comment

dear editor: i read the recent publication on retinopathy of prematurity (rop) screening with a great interest. mousavi et al concluded that “giving sufficient information about rop to parents and educating them about this potentially blinding condition, along with making appointments for them and presence of facilities for free rop screening exams, can increase the chance of on-time screening.1 i have some comments on this work. there might be some forgotten factors to be addressed. first, the background of the parents (socioeconomic status, education status, psychological status, etc.) might have some effects on the final practice on screening. second, the success of the program might be biased by the “making appointments”. whether there is a control for technique on making appointment is still questionable. third, the attendants in this work might also get the knowledge from other resources such as mass media. finally, this is not a direct pre- and post - evaluation on the knowledge but it is the measurement of practice after implementation of knowledge. it is indirect relationship based on the knowledge-attitude-practice (kap) principle.   reference   1. mousavi sz, karkhaneh r, roohipoor r, et al. screening for retinopathy of prematurity: the role of educating the parents. iranian journal of ophthalmology 201022(2):13-8.