Reports of Vision Loss Due to Eye Injuries Have Become Lesser

Eye injuries have seemed to have decreased in children, finds a new study. The findings of this study are published in the journal of JAMA Ophthalmology.

Why The Research Is Interesting: Understanding the frequency of eye injuries and the associated likelihood of vision loss may help guide prevention efforts.

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Main cause of moderate to severe vision impairment found to be uncorrected refractive error, a condition that can be treated simply by wearing glasses.

‘Even though a decrease in eye injuries cases has been observed in children, they continue to be prevalent in the United States, and so understanding these up’s and downs in the case trends can help establish future prevention strategies. ’

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Who and When: More than 300,000 children up to age 17 who received care for an eye injury at an emergency department from 2006 to 2014.

What (Study Measures): eye injury (exposure); changes over time in the incidence of eye injuries, the risk of vision loss and causes of eye injury to children (outcomes).

How (Study Design): This was an observational study. Researchers were not intervening for purposes of the study and cannot control all the natural differences that could explain the study findings.

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Results:

Emergency department visits for eye injuries decreased 26.1% from 2006 to 2014; injuries commonly came from a hit to the eye.
Most injuries had low risk for vision loss.
Eye injuries cause by sports or household/domestic duties such as animal care increased; eye injuries related to motor vehicle crashes, guns and chemical or thermal burns decreased.

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Glaucoma is currently diagnosed by assessing the thickness of the nerve fibres projecting from the RGCs to the brain.

Study Limitations: Data were gathered from emergency department billing data, which may not accurately indicate diagnosis codes.

Study Conclusions: This study demonstrated a decline in pediatric acute ocular injuries in the United States between 2006 and 2014. However, pediatric acute ocular injuries continue to be prevalent and understanding these trends can help establish future prevention strategies.

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Source-Eurekalert