Department of Optometry, Faculty of Medical Sciences, The University of the West Indies, St Augustine Campus, Tunapuna, Trinidad and Tobago.
Department of Health Promotion, Faculty of Medical Sciences, The University of the West Indies, St Augustine Campus, Tunapuna, Trinidad and Tobago.
PLoS One. 2024 Jul 24;19(7):e0302428. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0302428. eCollection 2024.
Low vision has a significant global health problem that impacts the personal, economical, psychological, and social life of an individual. Each year around 684 000 individuals die from falls, 80% of these deaths occur are in low- and middle-income countries. The risk of falling significantly increases with visual impairment. This review aimed to determine the global pooled prevalence of fall and associated factors among individuals with low vision.
Systematic search of published studies done on PubMed, EMBASE, MEDLINE, Cochrane, Scopus, Web of Science CINAHL and, Google Scholar. The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines were used to report the findings. Quality of studies was assessed using the modified Newcastle-Ottawa Scale (NOS). Meta-analysis was performed using a random-effects method using the STATA™ Version 14 software.
Thirty-five (35) studies from different regions involving 175,297 participants included in this meta-analysis. The overall pooled global prevalence fall among individual with low vision was17.7% (95% CI: 16.4-18.9) whereas the highest prevalence was 35.5%; (95% CI: 28.4-42.5) in Australia and the lowest was 19.7%; (95% CI: 7.6-31.8) seen in South America. Fear of falling (OR: 0.16(95%CI 0.09-0.30), and severity of visual impairment (OR: 0.27(95%CI (0.18-0.39) increases the odds of falling.
As one cause of accidental death, the prevalence of falls among individuals with low vision is high. Fear of falling and severity of falling increases the odds of falling. Different stakeholders should give due attention and plan effective strategies to reduce the fall among this population.
低视力是一个全球性的重大健康问题，影响着个人的个人生活、经济、心理和社会生活。每年约有 684,000 人死于跌倒，其中 80%发生在低收入和中等收入国家。视力障碍会显著增加跌倒的风险。本综述旨在确定全球低视力人群跌倒的总体流行率及其相关因素。
在 PubMed、EMBASE、MEDLINE、Cochrane、Scopus、Web of Science CINAHL 和 Google Scholar 上进行了已发表研究的系统搜索。使用系统评价和荟萃分析的首选报告项目报告研究结果。使用改良的 Newcastle-Ottawa 量表（NOS）评估研究质量。使用 STATA™版本 14 软件进行随机效应方法的荟萃分析。
来自不同地区的 35 项（35 项）研究共纳入 175,297 名参与者。这项荟萃分析中，低视力个体总体全球跌倒发生率为 17.7%（95%CI：16.4-18.9），而澳大利亚的最高发生率为 35.5%（95%CI：28.4-42.5），而南美洲的最低发生率为 19.7%（95%CI：7.6-31.8）。害怕跌倒（OR：0.16（95%CI 0.09-0.30））和视力损害严重程度（OR：0.27（95%CI 0.18-0.39））增加跌倒的可能性。
作为意外死亡的一个原因，低视力个体跌倒的发生率很高。害怕跌倒和跌倒的严重程度增加了跌倒的可能性。不同的利益相关者应该给予应有的关注，并制定有效的策略来减少这一人群的跌倒。
