The epidemiology of ocular trauma in Northern India: A teaching hospital study

• Published in: Oman journal of ophthalmology 2019-05, Vol.12 (2), p.78-83
• Main Authors: Maurya, Rajendra, Srivastav, Tanmay, Singh, Virendra, Mishra, C, Al-Mujaini, Abdullah
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Age; Blindness; Blunt trauma; Education; Epidemiology; eye trauma; India; Industrialized nations; Injuries; Khan, Sal; Middle class; Ophthalmology; Original; Patients; Per capita; Playgrounds; Socioeconomic factors; Teachers; Teaching hospitals; Trauma; Visual impairment
• ISSN: 0974-620X; 0974-7842
• DOI: 10.4103/ojo.OJO_149_2018

AIM: The aim was to determine the epidemiology of ocular trauma in a large teaching hospital in northern India over 4 years from 2010 to 2014. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This prospective, hospital-based, observational study was conducted at the Ophthalmology and Emergency Outpatient Departments of S. S. Hospital, Institute of Medical Sciences, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India, from March 2012 to February 2016. Detailed history was taken with special consideration to time, place and session of trauma, mode of injury, and type and nature of traumatic agent. All patients were thoroughly examined as per the standard clinical procedures to identify the type, extent, and severity of injury and impact on ocular structure and vision. Follow-up period was 6 months. Statistical analysis was based on age, sex, residence, marital status, occupation, per capita income, type of trauma and nature of damage, etc. RESULTS: Out of 402 patients, 293 (72.9%) were male and 109 (27.1%) were female. Overall male-to-female sex ratio was 2.7:1. Patients were aged between 2 and 70 years (mean: 26.48 ± 15.88, median: 23 years). The most vulnerable age group was 6-15 years (24.38%) followed by 16-25 years (23.88%). Maximum patients belonged to rural background (61.94%). The extent of ocular trauma was 3.93% (95% confidence interval: 3.23-4.63). Majority of participants were single (78.11%) and rest were married. About 112 (27.9%) participants were illiterate and 24.4% had primary education only. One hundred and eighty-eight (46.8%) participants belonged to lower and lower middle socioeconomic status. The cases were clustered in Rs. 1000-5000 per capita income. Most of the injuries occurred in summer season (46.18%) and in afternoon between 12.00 and 17.59 h (48.8%). Majority of trauma occurred away from home (66.20%) mainly on street (28.6%) and playground (9.2%). The most common injury was nonoccupational (82.3%) including sports related (23.9%) and road traffic accident (23.6%). Mechanical injuries were accounted for 89.3% of all eye injuries, and most common source was wooden object (24.9%) followed by metallic objects (20.9%). Traumatic agents were blunt and sharp in 56% and 17% of cases, respectively. Majority of traumatic agents were solid (82.1%). Seven percent of victims were drowsy during trauma and 98.4% of participants were not using any protective device at the time of injury. In 60.7% of cases, time elapsed between injury and treatment was between 1 a