Evaluation of the Demographic Features of Eye Loss in Turkey

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the causes of eye loss in different age groups and the distribution of age and sex among these patients. METHODS: The medical records of 816 patients (504 men, 312 women) with eye loss due to different etiologies were evaluated retrospectively for this study. Patients were divided into four age groups (preschool, school, adolescence and adulthood) and causes of eye loss were grouped as follows: trauma, postoperative and other causes (infection, tumor, congenital diseases). Pearson’s Chi-square test was used to compare the causes of eye loss with age sex and the affected side of the patients. RESULTS: The mean age was 12.6±13.6 (range, 0-76) years. There were 317 patients (38.8%) in group 1, 214 patients (26.2%) in group 2, 107 patients (13.1%) in group 3, and 178 patients (21.8%) in group 4). The most frequent etiologic factor of eye loss among all the patients and individually in each group was trauma (p<0.001). The percentage of trauma tended to increase by age until the age of 20 years. After that, the predominance of other causes of eye loss increased. Fortunately, the overall number of patients with eye loss tended to decrease by age. Traumatic etiologies were more frequently seen in male (68%) population, whereas other causes (infection, tumor and natal diseases) of eye loss were seen more in the female population (57.7%) (p<0.001). CONCLUSION: The young adult males are more prone to work-related accidents resulting in eye loss. Thus, the preventive measures are very important to reduce the traumatic eye injuries leading to workforce loss.