Quality of life and productivity in uncorrected presbyope workers: systematic review

Abstract

Presbyopia is a normal degenerative process associated with age that affects the visual system making it difficult to sharply focus images in near vision, aspect that can generate a decrease in the productivity of workers who need to perform tasks closely and consequently affect their quality of life. This research aims to synthesize scientific evidence on how uncorrected presbyopia decreases productivity and quality of life of workers over 40. The methodology used was based on a bibliographic search and the report was made meeting the criteria of the prism 2020 declaration; subsequently, the documents were evaluated with the tools of Newcastle Ottawa and RoB 2. Results: 94 % of presbyopia cases have not been corrected globally and presbyopia is expected to increase to about 2.1 billion by 2030. The highest prevalence of presbyopia reported was greater than 70 %, which varied between regions and age groups in participants older than 35 years. Conclusions: Presbyopia generates physiological changes, difficulty in the ability to relate activities such as reading and writing, and affects the quality of life, since it represents a psychosocial risk for people. The estimated productivity loss due to uncorrected presbyopia is estimated at $25 billion per year. The population affected by this problem is mainly women from rural areas.