Hospital-admitted eye injury in Victoria, Australia.

Background: The public health concern represented by eye injury in Victoria, Australia has been known for a period now approaching 20 years. However, there has been no improvement observed in this public health concern since it was first identified in the 1990s. This study further investigates the epidemiology of eye injury in Victoria, specifically hospital-admitted eye injury.

Methods: The Victorian Admitted Episodes Dataset was surveyed for eye injury coded by the International Classification of Diseases 10th revision during the period spanning 2001-2005, retrieving all cases of hospital-admitted eye injury in Victoria during the surveyed period.

Results: During the period surveyed, the average incidence of eye injury requiring hospital admission in Victoria was 53.6 per 100 000 person-years. Sixty-four per cent of patients were male and 36% were female (P < 0.001). Male patients were most commonly middle-aged compared with female patients who were most commonly middle-aged to elderly (P < 0.001). Core patient groups included: elderly women sustaining eye injuries as a result of falls (particularly in residential homes); middle-aged men sustaining eye injuries as a result of assault and in transport-related accidents.

Conclusion: The incidence of hospital-admitted eye injury in Victoria has increased since it was first identified as a concern in the 1990s. The design and implementation of an effective preventative strategy to reduce the rate of hospital-admitted eye injury in Victoria presents as a difficult task given that the most common causes are represented by falls, assault and transport-related accidents.