This article is more than 5 years old. Information may no longer be current.
Access to care critical for rural ocular trauma patients
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts
Delayed care of patients with ocular trauma can have significant detrimental effects, according to a study in rural Nepal. Emergency care by trained non-ophthalmologists may serve to clinically manage many of the eye injuries encountered in rural settings, the study authors suggest.
S.K. Khatry and colleagues with the Nepal Nutrition Intervention Project collected 525 cases of ocular trauma seen between 1995 and 2000 at the only eye care clinic in the Sarlahi district of Nepal. Patients were seen for follow-up at 2 to 4 months after initial presentation. The mean patient age was 28.
Based on general population information, the incidence of ocular trauma was 0.38 for women and 0.65 for men, the study authors said. At initial presentation, 9.6% had a visual acuity of 20/400 or worse in the injured eye, and 26.4% had a VA of 20/60 or worse. At the follow-up visit, 4.6% still had a VA worse than 20/400 and 11.2% had a VA of 20/60 or worse.
The worst visual outcomes typically occurred in older patients, those who sought treatment outside an eye care facility and those with severe injury.
The study is published in the April issue of British Journal of Ophthalmology.