Uveitis encompasses a group of diseases characterised by the inflammation of fovea uvea which are potentially vision threatening. However, the frequency of this condition is unclear. This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to provide estimates of the frequency of uveitis by identifying studies by sensitive search strategies in the medical databases developed by authors. The electronic search strategy yielded 2190 articles. A total of 49 studies were included and critically appraised. Twenty-two were population based, and 27 hospital-based. In the population-based studies 13 had a retrospective design, five had a cross-sectional design, three were prospective studies, and one was a case series. Cross-sectional studies had the most suitable design for obtaining prevalence data. The prevalence estimates ranged from two to 730 per 100,000. Methodological differences could explain the variability and the most important of which are related (i) representativeness (ii) type of population-adults, veterans, indigenous (iii) diagnostic methods and type of uveitis (iv) urban-rural setting; and (v) country-US, UK, India, and Australia. It is noted that prospective studies are the most appropriate designs for estimating incidence. It has been concluded that the population-based estimates of the epidemiology of uveitis vary owing to methodologies employed, definitions of uveitis, and geographical regions and the representativeness and generalisability of many studies are limited.
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Prevalence and incidence of uveitis
Reviewed by Patty Mopamboli Mboli
