Prevalence and Pattern of Ocular Trauma in a Secondary Eye Care Center in Nepal: A Descriptive Cross-sectional Study

Abstract

Introduction: Ocular trauma stands as the leading preventable cause of monocular blindness worldwide. The aim of the study was to calculate the prevalence of ocular trauma and the circumstances, causes, and types of ocular injuries at emergency department of Community Eye Hospital. Methods: This was a descriptive cross-sectional study conducted retrospectively on patientsvpresenting to the Emergency Department in the year 2020. Ethical clearance was received from the Institutional Review Board with reference number 12/2021. Data collection commenced in April 2021, following the approval in March 2021. Descriptive statistics with mean and frequency were used for analysis. Results: Among the 6526 emergency cases visiting the emergency department of Hetauda community eye hospital the prevalence of ocular trauma was 2143 (32.83%; 95% CI: 31.69%-33.97%). The mean age among the 2143 trauma cases was 33.55±15.63 years. Among them, 1851 (86.40%) fell in the working age group. The male-to-female ratio was 3:1. Occupational injuries due to welding, agriculture and industries were in 604 (28.19%) of all ocular injuries. Conclusions: The prevalence of ocular trauma in our study was higher than other studies. Occupational ocular trauma mainly welding injury, cement factory injury and agricultural injury are common cause of ocular trauma.