Elsevier

Ophthalmology

Volume 106, Issue 9, 1 September 1999, Pages 1847-1852
Ophthalmology

Epidemiology of ocular trauma in Australia

https://doi.org/10.1016/S0161-6420(99)90361-5Get rights and content

Abstract

Purpose

To describe the prevalence and risk factors of ocular trauma in a representative sample of Australians aged 40 and over who reside in the state of Victoria.

Design

Population-based cross-sectional study.

Participants

Australians aged 40 years and older living in Victoria.

Methods

Cluster, stratified sampling was used to identify permanent residents for a population-based study of eye disease. A standardized examination that included visual acuity and information about ocular trauma was conducted.

Main outcome measures

Self-reported history of ocular trauma and circumstances surrounding the events.

Results

A total of 3271 (83% of eligible) Melbourne residents and 1473 (92% of eligible) rural residents were examined. The overall rate of eye injury history in Victoria was 21.1% (95% confidence limits [CL] 19.6%, 22.5%). Men were far more likely than women to have ever experienced an eye injury (34.2% versus 9.9%), and rural men were more likely than Melbourne men to have ever had an eye injury (42.1% versus 30.5%). The workplace accounted for the majority of eye injuries (60%), followed by the home (24%). The location with the highest percent of people reporting the use of eye protection at the time of the injury was the workplace (18.5%); the workplace accounted for the lowest rate of hospitalization (4.9%). The industry with highest cumulative rate of eye injuries was communication (14 per 1000), whereas the highest occupation-specific cumulative rates of eye injury were recorded for tradespersons (18 per 1000).

Conclusions

Although ocular trauma is usually not associated with bilateral vision impairment, it is a major public health problem in Australia. Rural men, people engaged in hammering or sport, and those in the trades are at highest risk and require specific, targeted, prevention messages.

Section snippets

Methods

Details of the Visual Impairment Project have been published previously.9 Briefly, a stratified, cluster sample was employed to obtain a representative sample of adults aged 40 and over who had resided in their homes for at least 6 months. In urban Melbourne, nine pairs of census collector districts were randomly selected, and in rural Victoria, four pairs of census collector districts were randomly selected. Participants were recruited via a household census and invited to attend a locally

Results

A total of 3271 (83% of eligible) urban residents and 1473 (92% of eligible) rural residents were examined. The participants did not differ significantly from the nonparticipants, except for the language spoken at home.13 The participation rates were 85% for English speakers, 76% for Greek speakers, 78% for Italian speakers, and 79% for other language speakers. The urban residents ranged in age from 40 to 98 years (mean, 58) and 54% were women. The rural residents ranged in age from 40 to 103

Discussion

To our knowledge, this is the first population-based report of eye injuries in Australia, and the data are important for public health education. We found eye injuries requiring doctor’s treatment to be a significant public health problem, with more than 20% of Victorians aged 40 and over having had at least one eye injury during their lifetime. Our overall rate of 34% in men is substantially higher than the rate of 20% reported in white men in the Baltimore Eye Survey, although our rate of

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Supported in part by grants from the National Health and Medical Research Council, Canberra; the Victorian Health Promotion Foundation, Melbourne; the Ansell Ophthalmology Foundation, Sydney; the Estate of the late Dorothy Edols, Melbourne; and the Jack Brockhoff Foundation, Melbourne, Australia.

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