Global and regional estimates of prevalence of amblyopia: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Background: Amblyopia is one of the most important causes of vision impairment in the world, especially in children. Although its prevalence varies in different parts of the world, no study has evaluated its prevalence in different geographical regions comprehensively. The aim of the present study w...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Strabismus 2018-10, Vol.26 (4), p.168-183
Main Authors: Hashemi, Hassan, Pakzad, Reza, Yekta, Abbasali, Bostamzad, Parinaz, Aghamirsalim, Mohamadreza, Sardari, Sara, Valadkhan, Mehrnaz, Pakbin, Mojgan, Heydarian, Samira, Khabazkhoob, Mehdi
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
amblyopia
Global prevalence
meta-analysis
prevalence
regional prevalence
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Summary:Background: Amblyopia is one of the most important causes of vision impairment in the world, especially in children. Although its prevalence varies in different parts of the world, no study has evaluated its prevalence in different geographical regions comprehensively. The aim of the present study was to provide global and regional estimates of the prevalence of amblyopia in different age groups via a systematic search. Methods: In this study, international databases, including Embase, Scopus, PubMed, Web of Science, and other relevant databases, were searched systematically to find articles on the prevalence of amblyopia in different age groups published in English. The prevalence and 95% CI were calculated using binomial distribution. The Cochran's Q-test and I 2 statistic were applied to assess heterogeneity, a random-effects model was used to estimate the pooled prevalence, and a meta-regression method was utilized to investigate the factors affecting heterogeneity between studies. Results: Of 1252 studies, 73 studies were included in the analysis (sample volume: 530,252). Most of these studies (n = 25) were conducted in the WHO-Western Pacific Regional Office. The pooled prevalence estimate of amblyopia was 1.75% (95% CI: 1.62-1.88), with the highest estimate in European Regional Office (3.67%, 95% CI: 2.89-4.45) and the lowest in African Regional Office (0.51%, 95% CI: 0.24-0.78). The most common cause of amblyopia was anisometropia (61.64%). The I 2 heterogeneity was 98% (p 
ISSN:0927-3972
1744-5132
DOI:10.1080/09273972.2018.1500618