Ocular injuries in a rural Ethiopian community.

OBJECTIVE

To assess the causes, magnitude, risk factors and visual impact of ocular injury.

DESIGN

Community-based cross sectional study.

SETTING

Goro District Central Ethiopia between November 2002 and January 2003.

SUBJECTS

Sixty four peasant associations, with 1,566 people per peasant association.

RESULTS

Out of a total of 1027 people interviewed, 52 (5.1%, 95% CI: 3.8, 6.4) cases with history of ocular trauma, 24 (46.2%) males and 28 (53.8%) females, were examined. The mean age was 29.5 years. Of them, 18 (34.6%) were visually impaired in the affected eye. Ocular injury occurred most commonly among farmers 39/52 (75.0%). The difference between the number of males and females was not statistically significant (p = 0.5). But the relative risk (RR) of females (28/515 = 5.44) sustaining ocular injury compared to males (24/512 = 4.69) was 1.16 indicating that females had a 16% excess risk of having ocular injury than males. The leading cause of ocular injury in this community was by stick (35/52 = 67.3%).

CONCLUSION

Ocular injury is significant (5.1%) in the community and causes monocular visual impairment in about one third (34.6%) of cases. Females are relatively at higher risk of having an eye injury (RR = 1.16) and this is mostly work related injury with stick during local food processing. Activities directed to improving the technology of food processing will ultimately reduce the rate of ocular injury in this community.