Citation

Cao H, Li L, Zhang M. PLoS One 2012; 7(10): e48377.

Affiliation

Injury Prevention Research Center, Medical College of Shantou University, Shantou, Guangdong Province, People's Republic of China.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2012, Public Library of Science)

DOI

10.1371/journal.pone.0048377

PMID

23118997

PMCID

PMC3485239

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.

Language: en