Objective To observe the effect of assisted reproductive technology (ART) on retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) in preterm infants. MethodsA retrospective clinical study. From January 2016 to January 2020, 639 preterm infants who were hospitalized at Children's Hospital of Zhengzhou University and underwent fundus screening at a gestational age ≤32 weeks were included in the study. There were 366 males and 273 females. Gestational age at birth were (28.3±1.4) weeks; birth weight were (1 153.8±228.8) g. Severe ROP was detected in 60 cases (9.4%, 60/639); 120 were ART recipients, and 519 were naturally conceived, and were divided into the ART group and the control group accordingly. The incidence of gestational diabetes mellitus (χ2=21.675), pulmonary surfactant application (χ2=13.558), and twin births (yes) (χ2=145.568) in mothers of the children examined in both groups were significantly higher than that of the control group, and the difference were statistically significant in all cases (P＜0.001). Comparison of quantitative data between groups was performed by t-test, and comparison of count data was performed by χ2 test; logistic regression was used to analyze the effect of ART on the incidence of ROP. ResultsOf the 60 cases of severe ROP, 18 (15.0%, 18/120) and 42 (8.1%, 42/519) cases were in the ART group and control group, respectively. The incidence of severe ROP was significantly higher in the ART group than in the control group, and the difference was statistically significant (χ2=4.680, P=0.024). Compared with the control group, the incidence of severe ROP was significantly higher in the ART group for gestational age at birth ＜28 weeks and birth weight ＜1 000 g, and the differences were statistically significant (χ2=10.116, 3.785; P=0.002, 0.037). Logistic regression analysis showed that ART was a non-independent risk factor for the occurrence of ROP (P＞0.05). ConclusionAssisted reproductive technology may have a certain influence on the occurrence of ROP, which is not an independent factor.