Epidemiology of patients hospitalized for ocular trauma in the Chaoshan region of China, 2001-2010

Abstract

Background: The burden and pattern of ocular trauma in China are poorly known and not well studied. We aimed at studying the epidemiological characteristics of patients hospitalized for ocular trauma at major ophthalmology departments in the largest industrial base of plastic toys in China.

Methods: A retrospective study of ocular trauma cases admitted to 3 tertiary hospitals in China from 1st January 2001 to 31st December 2010 was performed.

Results: The study included a total of 3,644 injured eyes from 3,559 patients over the 10-year period: 2,008 (55.1%) open-globe injuries, 1,580 (43.4%) closed-globe injuries, 41 (1.1%) chemical injuries, 15 (0.4%) thermal injuries and 678 (18.6%) ocular adnexal injuries. The mean age of the patients was 29.0±16.8 years with a male-to-female ratio of 5.2∶1 (P = 0.007). The most frequent types of injury were work-related injuries (1,656, 46.5%) and home-related injuries (715, 20.1%). The majority of injuries in males (56.2%) and females (36.0%) occurred in the 15-44 age group and 0-14 age group, respectively. The final visual acuity correlated with the initial visual acuity (Spearman's correlation coefficient = 0.659; P<0.001). The Ocular Trauma Score also correlated with the final visual acuity (Spearman's correlation coefficient = 0.655; P<0.001).

Conclusions: This analysis provides an epidemiological study of patients who were hospitalized for ocular trauma. Preventive efforts are important for both work-related and home-related eye injuries.

Figure 1. Frequency of types of eye injuries by age and gender.

The majority of injuries (56.2%) occurring in males were distributed in the 15–44 age groups; the most frequent injury cause were related to work (70.0%), violence (16.3%), and road traffic (6.2%). The majority of injuries (36.0%) occurring in females were distributed in the 0–14 age group; the most frequent injury cause were related to the home (72.1%), violence (9.6%), and sports (3.8%).

Figure 2. Incidence times of work-related and home-related eye injuries in males and females, respectively, plotted over a one-day period.

Work-related eye injuries in males were spread throughout the day and night, with most injuries occurring during 16∶00–17∶00 (12.3%); home-related injuries in females primarily occurred during 21∶00–22∶00 (16.4%). The radial numbers are a count of patients for the entire 10-year period and the circumferential numbers are the hours of the day.