Low Vision Services in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Systematic Review

Eleven studies from six Sub-Saharan African countries form the basis of this systematic review on low vision services. The review, authored by Kwadwo Owusu Akuffo and published on figshare in June 2026, synthesizes evidence on service availability, accessibility, and outcomes. It follows PRISMA guidelines and includes a search of five databases from their inception through June 2025.

Use Cases

• Assessing regional disparities in low vision service coverage based on the review's findings of uneven distribution across six countries.
• Identifying barriers to care based on reported challenges like limited infrastructure, high device costs, and social stigma.
• Evaluating intervention effectiveness based on reported improvements in visual acuity, particularly for distance vision.
• Informing resource allocation for training and device procurement based on identified gaps in provider training and advanced diagnostics.

Strengths

• Systematic methodology following PRISMA guidelines and using Joanna Briggs Institute checklists for quality appraisal.
• Synthesizes findings from 11 studies, providing a multi-country perspective on low vision services.
• Examines both provider and patient perspectives, as indicated by the included studies.

Limitations

• The underlying data file is a 15.9 KB DOCX document, suggesting the dataset is a review manuscript rather than a primary data table.
• Row and column structures are unknown, limiting direct analysis of the raw evidence.
• Geographic coverage is limited to the six Sub-Saharan African countries represented in the eleven included studies.

Provenance

Source

figshare, authored by Kwadwo Owusu Akuffo.

Collection Method

Systematic review of literature from PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, African Journals Online, and Google Scholar.

Time Range

Literature search covered database inception through June 2025.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-06-03 06:00:56; the literature search was conducted through June 2025.

Geography

Sub-Saharan Africa, specifically studies from six countries including Ghana.