Vision impairment and associated daily activity limitation: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Background: Vision impairment is a common disability that poses significant challenges to individuals’ ability to perform activities essential for independent living, including activities of daily living (ADL) and instrumental activities of daily living (IADL). Despite extensive research, the extent and nature of these associations remain unclear, particularly across varying levels and types of vision impairment. Objectives: This meta‐analysis aims to estimate associations between vision impairment and difficulties with ADL and IADL. Methods: We conducted a systematic review of relevant literature from the inception of the databases to February 2024, using electronic database searches, including PubMed, MEDLINE (Ovid), EMBASE, Cochrane CENTRAL, and CDSR. The articles were screened for title and abstract and then for the full-text reports by two independent reviewers and study quality was appraised. Meta‐analyses were performed using random effects models to calculate the pooled effect size, expressed as odds ratio (OR) with corresponding 95% confidence interval (CI) of each outcome. Results: Forty-six studies involving 210,960 participants were included. A positive large correlation between vision impairment and difficulties with ADL (Correlation coefficient [r] = 0.55, 95% CI 0.37–0.68, p = 0.001) and IADL (r = 0.60, 95% CI 0.49–0.69, p = 0.001) was shown. We also found that vision impairment was associated with difficulties in ADL (OR = 1.77, 95% CI 1.56–2.01, p