Study: Eyeglass injuries can be prevented

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Injuries related to wearing eyeglasses vary by age and gender, and a majority of the injuries that send patients to the emergency room can be avoided by wearing protective eye gear, according to researchers at Ohio State University.

Huiyun Xiang, MD, MPH, PhD, and colleagues estimated 27,000 people in 2002 and 2003 went to the emergency department seeking treatment for injuries related to eyeglasses. Figures were derived from 642 weighted cases of eyeglass-related injuries.

People 65 years old or older were “much more likely than younger adults to fall and hit their head, thus causing a glasses-related injury,” according to a press release from the university. Injuries to the globe were “much more prominent” among people between the ages of 18 and 64 than either children or older adults, the release said.

In this study, glasses-related injury included both traumatic events where the eyeglasses were directly involved in the injury and where foreign bodies entered the eye while the patient was wearing spectacles.

Falls accounted for the greatest number of glasses-related injuries (90%) in older adults, and accounted for about 27% of the injuries in the working-age group. Sports and recreation activities were the greatest sources of glasses-related injuries in children (37%).

The study is published in Ophthalmic Epidemiology.