Incidence ofcasesofocular traumaadmitted to hospital andincidence ofblinding outcome

Ains-Toprovide epidemiological dataon thecurrent burdenofserious eyeinjuries utilising thehospital eyeservice, toinformtheplanning andprovision ofeye health care, andhealth andsafety strategiesfortheprevention ofocular injuries. Methods-A prospective observational studywascarried outofallpatients with oculartraumaadmitted tohospitals in Scotland, underthecareofaconsultant ophthalmologist, during a 1yearperiod. Thepopulation ofScotland represented thepopulation atriskofinjury. Visual outcome(Snellen visual acuity intheinjured eye)wasmeasured at-the timeoffinal discharge fromophthalmic careandatfollow up. Results-All ophthalmic departments in Scotland participated anda total of415 residents ofScotland wereadmitted. The1 yearcumulative incidence of ocular traumanecessitating admission tohospitalisestimated tobe 8.14per100000 population (95%CI7.38to8.97). Some 13.2%(n=26/197) ofpatients discharged fromfollow uphadapoorvisual outcome withavisual acuity lessthan6/12inthe injured eye.Some10.7%(211197) patients atthis timehadablinding outcomeinthe injured eye(visual acuity lessthan6160). No patient wasregistered blindorpartially sighted during thestudy period. The homewasthesingle mostfrequent place forblinding injuries tooccur(52%,n=11I 21),followed bytheworkplace 24%(n=5/ 21).The1yearcumulative incidence of blinding outcomefromserious ocular traumaisestimated tobe0.41per100000 population peryear(95%CI0.26to0.64). Conclusion-The current burdenofserious oculartraumapresenting to the hospital eyeservice hasbeenquantified fromthispopulation basedstudy, andfor thefirst time, adirect estimate oftheincidenceofthesubsequent blinding outcome fromtheseinjuries hasbeenprovided. Oculartraumaremainsan important causeofavoidable and,predominantly, monocularvisual morbidity (visual impairment andblindness), withoverhalfof theblinding injuries nowoccurring inthe home.Healtheducation andsafety strategiesshouldnow consider targeting the home fortheprevention ofserious eye injuries in addition tothetraditional work,sports, andleisure environments andtheir related activities. (Bry Ophthalmol 1996;80:592-596) Oculartraumaisan important causeof preventable visualmorbidity, particularly amongtheyounger agegroups."A Although ocular traumarepresents asignificant burden ofnewcases presenting toophthalmic services intheUK,manyofthese areminorinjuries andaretreated either intheaccident and emergency department orasoutpatients," withonlyasmall proportion (between 0.9% and1.8%)being admitted tohospital.5 8Consequently, there arescant epidemiological data onmoderate tosevere injuries withpotentially sight threatening sequelae that areavailable to inform notonlyplanners andproviders ofeye health care, butalso health andsafety strategies fortheprevention ofocular injuries. Thedata currently available fortheUK relate tocircumstances almost twodecades ago.' Thispaperreports on theincidence of ocular traumaofsufficient severity towarrant admission tohospital underaconsultant ophthalmologist, together withtheincidence of blinding outcome within 1yearofinjury.