Kaohsiung Journal of Medical Sciences
Volume 23, Issue 9 , Pages 463-469, September 2007

Epidemiologic Study on Work-related Eye Injuries in Kaohsiung, Taiwan

  • Chi-Kung Ho

      Affiliations

    • Department of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
    • Graduate Institute of Occupational Safety and Health, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
    • ,
  • Ya-Lin Yen

      Affiliations

    • Graduate Institute of Occupational Safety and Health, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
    • ,
  • Cheng-Hsien Chang

      Affiliations

    • Department of Ophthalmology, Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
    • Deparrment of Ophthalmology, Kaohsiung Municipal Hsiao-Kang Hospital, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
    • ,
  • Hung-Che Chiang

      Affiliations

    • Department of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
    • Department of Public Health, Faculty of Medicine, College of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
    • Corresponding Author InformationAddress correspondence and reprint requests to: Dr Hung-Che Chiang, Department of Public Health, Faculty of Medicine, College of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, 100 Shih-Chuan 1st Road, Kaohsiung 807, Taiwan
    • ,
  • Ying-Ying Shen

      Affiliations

    • Department of Pathology, I-Da Hospital, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
    • Department of Biological Science and Technology, I-Shou University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
    • ,
  • Po-Ya Chang

      Affiliations

    • Department of Public Health, Faculty of Medicine, College of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan

Received 12 February 2007; accepted 3 May 2007.

Article Outline

To describe the epidemiologic features of work-related eye injuries in Kaohsiung, a hospital-based study was performed. Four hundred and eighty-six patients who were treated at emergency service or were admitted to the ophthalmology ward over a 4-year period were reviewed. Among these, 38.9% of eye injuries in the study were work-related. Male workers had a 3.99 higher odds ratio (OR) than females to suffer from eye injuries (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.99-8.04). Most of the work-related eye injuries occurred in subjects who were 30-49 years old (OR, 3.02, and 95% CI, 1.56-5.82, when compared with those aged ≤29 years). The most common type of eye injury in the occupational exposure group was foreign body injury (31.2%), followed by blunt injuries (20.6%), chemical burn (19.6%), UV light radiation (12.7%), and corneal abrasions (11.6%). On the other hand, in the non-occupational exposure group, the most common types of eye injury were blunt injuries (43.4%), corneal abrasions (28.3%), and foreign body injury (20.2%). Our study found that foreign body injury and blunt injuries were the two highest priority injuries for which prevention strategies should be developed in Kaohsiung city. Furthermore, after advanced examination of types of media that caused eye injuries, we found that being hit by wooden objects around the eye, by flying objects in the eye, and by welding flashes are important risk factors for workers to avoid. In conclusion, most of the occupational eye injuries occurred among male workers aged 30-49 years. Due to the lack of an occupational eye injury surveillance system to monitor the incidence of eye injuries and to undertake risk assessment, preventable occupational eye injuries have not been properly controlled. We hope to provide information for further development of preventive strategies.

Key Words:  blunt injury , chemical burn , foreign body injury , occupational eye injuries , UV light radiation injury

No full text is available. To read the body of this article, please view the PDF online.

 

Back to Article Outline

References 

  1. National Safety Council  . In: Injury fact 2002 . Itasca, IL: National Safety Council; 2004;p. 56
  2. Prevent Blindness America. Workplace eye safety. In: Wise Owl Eye Safety Recognition Program, 2004. Available at http://www.preventblindness.org/safety/Wise_Owl.html [Date accessed: December 20, 2006]
  3. Ward DL , Gorie C . Occupational eye injuries in soldiers . J Occup Med . 1991;33:646–650
  4. McCarty CA , Fu CLH , Taylor HR . Epidemiology of ocular trauma in Australia . Ophthalmology . 1999;106:1847–1852
  5. Yu TSI , Liu H , Hui K . A case-control study of eye injuries in the workplace in Hong Kong . Ophthalmology . 2004;111:70–74
  6. O'Toole M . The relationship between employees' perceptions of safety and organizational culture . J Safety Res . 2002;33:231–243
  7. McCall BP , Horwitz IB . Assessment of occupational eye injury risk and severity: an analysis of Rhode Island workers' compensation data 1998–2002 . Am J Ind Med . 2006;49:45–53
  8. Xiang H , Stallones L , Chen G , et al.   Work related eye injuries treated in hospital emergency departments in the US . Am J Ind Med . 2005;48:57–62
  9. Hwang YH , Chou EJ , Chang CW , et al.   Suspended onion particles and potential corneal injury in onion harvesters . Arch Environ Health . 2002;57:78–84
  10. Klopfer J , Tielsch JM , Vitale S , et al.   Eye injuries resulting in hospitalization, 1984 through 1987 . Arch Ophthalmol . 1992;110:832–842
  11. Dannenberg AL , Parver LM , Brechner RJ , et al.   Penetrating eye injuries in the workplace . Arch Ophthalmol . 1992;110:843–848
  12. United States Eye Injury Registration (USEIR) Online. Eye Trauma Epidemiology and Prevention. Available at http://www.useironline.org/Prevention.htm [Date accessed: December 20, 2006]
  13. Voon LW , See J , Wong TY . The epidemiology of ocular trauma in Singapore: perspective from the emergency service of a large tertiary hospital . Eye . 2001;15:75–81
  14. Schein OD , Hibberd PL , Shingleton BJ , et al.   The spectrum and burden of ocular injury . Ophthalmology . 1988;95:300–305
  15. Harris PM . Nonfatal occupational injuries involving the eyes, 2002. In: Compensation and Working Conditions Online. US Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2004 . Available at http://www.bls.gov/opub/cwc/print/sh20040624ar01p1.htm [Date assessed: April 4, 2007]

PII: S1607-551X(08)70054-8

doi:10.1016/S1607-551X(08)70054-8

Kaohsiung Journal of Medical Sciences
Volume 23, Issue 9 , Pages 463-469, September 2007

Article Tools