Impacts of visual impairment on pragmatic impairment: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Abstract

Background Consideration for patients with visual impairment, from low vision to blindness, is an important part of building a barrier-free society. Some authors have elaborated that visual impairment can indeed lead to delayed development in theory of mind, thereby causing pragmatic knowledge deficiency. Verifying whether those with eye conditions have pragmatic impairment is an essential way for their clinical evaluation, intervention and rehabilitation. Objective We primarily carry out a meta-analysis of visual impairment from low vision to blindness and pragmatic impairment in people with low vision or blindness to verify visual impairment may cause pragmatic impairment. Data sources Electronic databases Pubmed, Medline, MesH, Psychinfo, Ovid, EBSCO and CNKI and the reference sections of previous reviews. Study eligibility criteria Studies were included when they built on primary data from clinical questionnaire surveys or field trials anywhere in the world, and when they reported impacts of visual impairment on social cognition, communication, skills, behavior and intelligence. In total, 25 original studies were included, in which 25735 people were evaluated. Results Statistically, visual impairments and pragmatic impairment exist correlation due to the significant p value(p = 0.0005 < 0.05) in group and the subgroup sorted in the light of 18 years old (p < 0.0001 and p = 0.003 < 0.05). Psychologically, because people with visual impairment can not normally get non-verbal information, they can not get a complete pragmatic knowledge system. Pragmatic knowledge deficiency leads to abnormal in executive functions and development delay from the perspective of theory of mind, inducing pragmatic impairment. Therefore, visual impairment has an impact on pragmatic impairment. Conclusion The meta-analysis reveals robust evidence on the relationship of vision impairment and pragmatic impairment in children or adults. Such evidence may help to gradually improve the clinical evaluation, intervention and rehabilitation of these people.