Eye Injury Snapshot: Accidents in the Home Cause Many Injuries; Assaults on the Decline

American Academy of Ophthalmology Survey Reveals Eye Injury Trends; Suggests More Than Half Could Be Avoided with Protective Eyewear

SAN FRANCISCO – During a one-week “snapshot” in the United States, ophthalmologists and other doctors reported treating nearly 1,000 eye injuries, 88 percent of which were accidental. The number of injuries from assaults dropped nearly 35 percent from a similar snapshot in 2004, according to the American Academy of Ophthalmology.

The Eye Injury Snapshot is an annual study that identifies the nature of eye injuries. In the spring of 2005, participating doctors from across the country, including ophthalmologists and emergency, pediatric and family physicians, submitted anonymous reports of eye injuries they treated over the course of a week. Nearly 70 percent of those injured were not wearing protective eyewear, and most of the doctors felt that the injury could have been avoided if eyewear had been worn.
 
“The study demonstrates the incredible scope of eye trauma in this country, occurring without respect to age, gender or region of the country,” said Paul Sternberg Jr., MD, Academy secretary for communications. “A large percentage of these injuries are preventable, either by avoiding activities that could lead to injury or by wearing protective eyewear.”

Other results include:

• More than half (52 percent) of the patients treated were between the ages of 18 and 45, and almost 30 percent of those patients were between 30 and 40 years old.
• Most of the injuries happened in the home (42 percent) and occurred in the afternoon. Nearly half of the time (47 percent) injuries occurred between noon and 6 p.m.
• Some of the most unusual injury-causing instruments included a cookie, a green peach, a pomegranate, a rooster beak, and a moose (the patient was involved in a car crash with a moose.)

This year, the Academy is partnering with the American Society of Ocular Trauma to sponsor the Eye Injury Snapshot Project. Along with creating public awareness around eye injuries, the Academy will use the data to provide support to distinguish ophthalmologists as providers of medical eye care.

“Fortunately, our nation’s ophthalmologists have the skill and training to treat most of these patients to minimize the amount of permanent vision loss,” Dr. Sternberg added.

The Academy’s findings are in line with the results of a recent eye injury study conducted by the University of Alabama at Birmingham, using combined 2001 data from the National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey, the National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey, and the National Hospital Discharge Survey.  The study is published in the July issue of Archives of Ophthalmology, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.