Cataract evidence gap map

What this map shows

At Sightsavers, our EGMs summarise, appraise and present evidence from systematic or literature reviews.

The cataract EGM summarises evidence from 285 reviews, of which six have been included twice as they report on two thematic areas (e.g. treatment as well as QCC). Of the 285 reviews, four are paediatric-related cataract reviews and 281 are age-related cataract reviews.

The reviews are unevenly distributed across the sectors, with most addressing treatment of cataract (138), followed by risk/prevention of cataracts (54), and quality of clinical care (52). The remaining reviews focused on the prevalence of cataracts (23), access to cataract services (15), cost (10), quality of life (7), and screening (4). Therefore, this gap map shows clear gaps in evidence at the health systems sector level.

A total of 140 reviews are of low confidence, of which 96 provide strong evidence in response to the research question they set out to answer. 108 reviews on the map are of medium quality, where the majority (71) show strong evidence in response to their research question. Finally, a total of 55 reviews are of high confidence: 24 of these provide strong evidence in response to their research question, another 20 provide weak evidence, and 11 provide inconclusive evidence.

A special thank you to Dr Baixiang Xiao for supporting in the review of studies written in Chinese.