Does occupation explain gender and other differences in work-related eye injury hospitalization rates?

Objective: We sought to determine whether demographic differences in eye injury rates persist after adjusting for occupational exposure.

Methods: On-duty eye injury hospitalizations were linked to occupation among active-duty US Army personnel.

Results: Eye injury rates were higher for white soldiers, men, and for younger soldiers, even after adjusting for occupational group and specific job titles using multivariate models.

Ocular complications of boxing.

Objectives: To investigate the prevalence of ocular injuries in a large population of boxers over a period of 16 years, in particular, the most severe lesions that may be vision threatening.

Methods: Clinical records of the medical archive of the Italian Boxing Federation were analysed. A total of 1032 boxers were examined from February 1982 to October 1998.

The mechanism and prevention of soccer eye injuries.

Aims: To study the mechanism and the means of preventing soccer eye injuries.

Methods: Kicked soccer ball velocities were measured for a range of ages and experience. Soccer balls (sizes 3, 4, and 5), inflated to 3, 6, and 9 psi, were impacted onto an artificial orbit and the results analysed at 1000 frames per second.

Prescription safety eyewear: impact studies of lens and frame failure.

Objectives: To determine if a plano lens could be the test lens for all prescription (Rx) lenses and to investigate why Rx lenses pop out of safety eyewear.

Design: Plano and Rx polycarbonate lenses (n = 641) with varying thickness and edge geometry, mounted on steel lens holders, and Rx safety eyewear (n = 128) placed on headforms were impacted with test objects of varying diameter and hardness. Impacts were studied with 500 to 2,000 frames-per-second motion analysis.

A practical guide for sports eye protection.

Sports eye injuries can be serious but are preventable. Any sport that involves a stick or racket, a ball or other projectile, or body contact presents a risk of serious eye injury. Physicians have an obligation to warn players of potential risk and to recommend appropriate eye protection.

Injury prevention: where do we go from here?

Background: Most eye injuries are preventable. Military personnel, workers, athletes, and other spectacle wearers--especially children and the functionally one-eyed--who require protection from impact, should expect that safety eye-wear actually protects.

Purpose: To present to eye care professionals the current state-of-the-art in eye injury prevention.

Baseball hardness as a risk factor for eye injuries.

Background: Baseball is the leading cause of sports-related eye injuries in young persons. It is known that softer baseballs reduce the potential for brain and cardiac injury, but it has been speculated that softer baseballs may increase eye injuries by intruding more into the orbit. It also has been claimed that softer baseballs would change the "feel" of the game.

Sports medicine and the eye care professional.

Background: There are more than 40,000 eye injuries every year in the United States--many of which are sports-related. Sports injuries are a common cause of severe vision loss. Today, contact sports, racket sports, and other high-risk athletic activities are more popular on an organized and informal level.

Shatter resistance of spectacle lenses.

Objective: To evaluate the relative strength and shatter resistance of spectacle lenses currently used in sunglasses and dress, sports, and industrial eyewear.

Design: Seven lenses that met the US American National Standards Institute (ANSI) Z80 standards for dress glasses (made of high-index plastic, allyl resin plastic, heat tempered glass, chemically tempered glass, and polycarbonate, and with center thickness ranging from 1 mm to 2.2 mm) and 4 lenses that met ANSI Z87 standards for industrial safety eyewear (allyl resin plastic, heat-tempered glass, chemically tempered glass, and polycarbonate, all with 3.

Ruptured globes following radial and hexagonal keratotomy surgery.

Objective: To ascertain if cases of radial keratotomy wound rupture were occurring and whether the globes ruptured through the corneal incisions.

Design: Cases of traumatic ruptured globe after incisional corneal refractive surgery were collected from ophthalmologists and from peer-reviewed and other ophthalmic literature.

Results: Twenty-eight human eyes (eight previously unreported) are known to have ruptured through refractive corneal incisions in activities of daily living (n = 12), assault (n = 7), motor vehicle accidents (n = 5), and sports (n = 4).

Prescribing for contact sports.

Polycarbonate lenses should be prescribed for wear by participants of contact sports during athletic activities. Frames that meet the specifications of American Society for Testing and Materials F803-88a should be prescribed for sports in which there is a significant risk of eye injury. Because of the high-energy collisions in some sports, helmets are also essential for both face and eye protection.

Prevention of sports injuries.

The eye care professional has the responsibility to advise the patient of potential eye injuries in sports and the available methods of protection against injury. Polycarbonate is the lens material of choice, both plano and for prescription eye wear for athletes and other active people. Those who fabricate and dispense eye wear must be aware of the need for safety eye wear and advise patients appropriately.

The spectrum and burden of ocular injury.

The authors conducted a hospital-based study to ascertain basic, descriptive epidemiologic information about ocular trauma in an urban setting. Over a 6-month period, 3184 patients presenting to our emergency ward with ocular trauma were studied. Severe injuries totaled 5.

How I Manage Corneal Abrasions and Lacerations.

In brief: The initial on-field examination of an athlete who has sustained an eye injury is crucial. Corneal abrasions usually heal rapidly with little lost playing time and rare complications, but a laceration can result in the loss of an eye if the injured athlete continues activity. Symptoms such as a cut in the eyelid or an object on the cornea may require immediate transfer of the injured athlete to a special facility for more thorough examination and treatment.

Soccerball-induced eye injuries.

We report a series of 24 confusion eye injuries resulting from soccerball impact. Hyphema (50%), vitreous hemorrhage (29%), corneal abrasion (21%), angle recession (8%), and retinal tear (4%) were experienced. When compared with a combined hyphema series and with hockey and racquet sports, our group had fewer serious injuries and no permanent visual acuity loss resulted.

Sports eye injuries a preventable disease.

Each year, sports are responsible for over 100.000 preventable eye injuries. A face-protector standard was developed for hockey.