PROPORTION OF OCCUPATIONAL EYE INJURIES AND THEIR RISK FACTORS: A SINGLE-CENTER STUDY

Abstract

Introduction: Occupational ocular injuries account for about 3-4% of all occupational injuries in the United States while in Egypt, account for 36.7% .The impact of occupational ocular injuries affects the future of workers and inhibits the productivity. Aim of Work: To measure the proportion and risk factors for occupational eye injuries and to compare between occupational and non occupational eye injuries among patients attending the emergency department of the Ophthalmology center; Mansoura University. Materials and Methods: A total of 357working patients with eye injuries were subjected to a specially designed questionnaire covering the personal, socio-demographic, occupational history, general and ocular medical history and accident analysis. All patients underwent comprehensive eye examination. Ophthalmic B-scan ultrasound was performed gently in closed-globe injury cases .Results: All patients had unilateral eye injuries; the overall prevalence of occupational eye injuries was 57.1%.The significant independent predictors of occupational eye injuries among participants were: being male , aged ≥40 years and educated below secondary. The risk of occupational eye injuries among participants increased in the day time and with history of similar accident before. The main cause of eye injuries was foreign bodies (74.5%). Conclusion and Recommendations: occupational eye injuries represented 57.1% of all eye injuries among studied patients. Being male, aged 40 years or more, low education, day time work and previous occupational eye injuries were the significant independent predictors. Corneal injuries and simple eye injuries were the most prevalent. Regular occupational eye safety programs and a large scale multi-center study are recommended for more information about occupational eye injuries