Diabetic retinopathy in Sub-Saharan Africa: prevalence and regional variations from a systematic review and meta-analysis
About a quarter of diabetics in SSA have DR. This is similar to regional estimates (28% in East Africapubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov) but slightly lower than the overall Africa average (~36%)pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov. The high heterogeneity suggests that the prevalence of DR is highly variable throughout SSA. Restricted access to eye care, late diagnosis, and inadequate glycemic control in SSA are probably responsible for this, these findings highlight the urgent need for systematic diabetic retinopathy screening and management programs in sub-Saharan Africa.
Authors
- N. Ben Salah (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0166-7715)
- Intisar Khalafalla (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0009-1085-4011)
- Abdulkarim Ismail Qarbote
- Zakaria Omar Sheck
- Fathi Abdi Farah (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0004-4877-2226)
- Abdikarim Ahmed Warsame
- Amina Mohamed Mire
- Bahja Ahmed Mumin (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0006-0989-9245)
- Mohamed Farah Ismail (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0009-2594-6728)
- Ibrahim Abdirahman Mohamed (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0004-1877-0211)
- Sowda Abdikariim Shiekh Isse
Institutions
- Kampala International University (UG)
Publication Details
- Journal
- BMC Ophthalmology
- Published
- 2025-12-26
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1186/s12886-025-04589-5
- Primary Topic
- Retinal Diseases and Treatments
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00