Global burden of fall and associated factors among individual with low vision: A systematic-review and meta-analysis

Introduction 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. Methods and materials 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. Result 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. Conclusion 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.