Mapping gaps and exploring impairment and disability prevalence in South Asian (SAARC) countries: a scoping review

Despite the considerable health and economic burden of disability in the South Asian (SA) region, there is limited evidence of impairments and disabilities prevalence and the need for Assistive Technologies (ATs). This scoping review aims to synthesise the evidence of the impairments and disabilities in SA countries. This review followed Arksey and O’Malley’s methodological framework. EBSCOhost, EMBASE, PubMed, and Web of Science databases were searched for original research articles from SA countries. In this study, impairment and disability refer to functional limitations restricting individuals from performing activities, including visual, hearing, speaking, cognitive, mobility, and self-care difficulties. The review included full-text, English-language articles addressing any impairment and disability, without restrictions on publication date. This review identified 105 articles distributed over the six impairment and disability domains: visual, hearing, mobility, self-care, speaking, and cognitive. Most evidence originated from India (50.5%) and focused on visual impairments (53.3%). The review identified that heterogeneity in methodologies, case identification definitions, and study settings contributed to variations in prevalence estimation and restricted the comparability within and across countries. Besides, the uneven distribution of studies across countries suggests varying inclinations of countries toward specific impairment and disability domains. The review identified variations in prevalence due to differences in methodologies, definitions, and contexts. The review also identified the uneven distribution of studies, limited evidence on ATs, reliance on self-reported data, and lack of nationally representative research. Future research should use standardised case identification and evidence-based approaches to enhance comparability and minimise response biases. More than half (53%) of the existing research publications on impairments and disabilities solely focus on visual impairment. This research gap highlights a deficiency in attention towards other forms of impairments, as well as assistive and rehabilitation services for those conditions.While the South Asian region (SA) is struggling with various challenges, including health and economic issues, information related to the availability and utilisation of Assistive Technologies (ATs) is limited due to the lack of empirical evidence.Owing to the absence of a standardised methodology and case identification definition, the prevalence of impairments notably varies across studies within countries.Analysing the factors contributing to the higher usage rates of ATs in the SA region for visual impairment could potentially improve AT adoption rates for other impairment types. More than half (53%) of the existing research publications on impairments and disabilities solely focus on visual impairment. This research gap highlights a deficiency in attention towards other forms of impairments, as well as assistive and rehabilitation services for those conditions. While the South Asian region (SA) is struggling with various challenges, including health and economic issues, information related to the availability and utilisation of Assistive Technologies (ATs) is limited due to the lack of empirical evidence. Owing to the absence of a standardised methodology and case identification definition, the prevalence of impairments notably varies across studies within countries. Analysing the factors contributing to the higher usage rates of ATs in the SA region for visual impairment could potentially improve AT adoption rates for other impairment types.