Abstract
Purpose :
To provide a comprehensive analysis of the epidemiologic trends of ocular injuries among the United States (US) pediatric population from 2003 to 2022.
Methods :
A retrospective review of the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System (NEISS) data on ocular injuries from January 2003 to December 2022 was performed. Deidentified records of patients aged zero through seventeen presenting to NEISS emergency departments (ED) were included. Data collected for statistical analysis include patient age, sex, race, diagnosis of the ocular injury, and consumer products (CPs) involved in the injury.
Results :
In total there were 43,172 ocular injuries between 2003 and 2022 among the pediatric population within the US, with the most documented in 2018 at 2,127 injuries. The mean age at presentation was 6.3 years (SD=4.67; median=8.0), and a majority of patients were male (63.7%) and white (44.8%). The most common pediatric ocular injury diagnoses were contusions/abrasions (49.5%), chemical injuries (15.7%), foreign bodies (8.8%), subconjunctival hemorrhages (4.2%), and lacerations (3.5%). Among patients with ocular contusions/abrasions, the consumer product (CP) most involved was basketballs (0.07%). Among patients with chemical injuries, the most common cause of injury was laundry soaps/detergents (23.6%). Among patients with ocular foreign bodies, the most common cause of injury was pencils/pens (4.4%). The annual incidence of ocular injuries was 0.0025%, with this rate decreasing from 0.0029% in 2003 to 0.0023% in 2022.
Conclusions :
Conclusion: In the US pediatric population presenting to NEISS ED’s over the past two decades (2003-2022), the average presenting age for ocular injuries was 6.3 years with injuries most commonly occurring in males from White racial backgrounds. The leading three diagnoses were contusions/abrasions, chemical injuries, and foreign bodies. The most common CPs involved in the aforementioned diagnoses were basketballs, laundry soaps/detergents, and pencils/pens, respectively. Overall, this study’s findings also show that the average incidence of CP-related ocular injuries in the US pediatric population over the past two decades has been decreasing. Future studies should investigate how epidemiologic trends can inform interventions for targeting reduction of preventable ocular injuries in US children.
This abstract was presented at the 2024 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Seattle, WA, May 5-9, 2024.