Abstract
Purpose :
Approximately 55 million ocular injuries occur worldwide, with eye trauma accounting for 7% of all physical injuries in children and being the leading cause of acquired unilateral blindness. Those with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) have up to a two times higher risk of injury. Furthermore, adolescents have a higher propensity to conduct risky behavior. Yet, there has been minimal research on the association of ADHD with ocular injuries in adolescents.
Methods :
Patients between the ages of 14-18 years old on the TriNetX database were divided based on ADHD status. Cohorts were matched on age, sex, race, and ethnicity. Statistical analysis on the occurrence rate and odds ratios was performed. The ocular injuries included in the study are abrasion without foreign body, avulsion, burn of eye adnexa and eye, conjunctival hemorrhage, conjunctivitis, contusion, corrosion of adnexa and eye, keratitis, laceration with and without prolapse and loss, penetrating orbit, penetrating with and without foreign body, any ocular injury, and other unspecific ocular injuries.
Results :
A total of 316,763 pairs of patients were evaluated for each outcome. Any ocular injury was more common in patients with ADHD (5.37%) compared to those without (3.08%), with an odds ratio (OR) of 1.78 (95% CI: 1.739-1.829, p < 0.001). Conjunctival hemorrhage, conjunctivitis, and keratitis also showed higher risks in the ADHD group with ORs of 1.67 (p < 0.001), 1.82 (p < 0.001), and 1.21 (p = 0.021), respectively. For more severe conditions such as burns, corrosion, and abrasions of the eye and adnexa, risks were higher in the ADHD cohort, ORs from 1.95 (p = 0.009) for burns to 2.67 (p = 0.003) for corrosion. Subcategories of trauma such as laceration did not show significant difference.
Conclusions :
The study highlights an association between ADHD and increased risk of ocular injuries in adolescents. Patients with ADHD showed a higher prevalence of ocular trauma, including conjunctival hemorrhage, conjunctivitis, and keratitis, with the risk being notably higher for less severe conditions. This suggests a need for targeted preventive strategies and education for this demographic to mitigate the risks of eye injuries, which can lead to severe consequences such as unilateral blindness. The findings underscore the importance of integrating ocular health within the health surveillance and support for adolescents with ADHD.
This abstract was presented at the 2024 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Seattle, WA, May 5-9, 2024.