July 25, 1996. Copyright, 1996, Graphic News. All rights reserved

MOST EYE INJURIES HAPPEN AT HOME
By Laura Spinney, Science  Editor

LONDON, July 25, Graphic News- Over half of all injuries leading to blindness occur in the home, and men are nine times more likely than women to sustain sight-threatening injuries, according to British doctors.

In the past, most serious eye injuries have taken place in the workplace or in sports or leisure facilities. But over the last twenty years the trend has shifted towards a higher proportion of sight-threatening accidents occurring in the home. That is the conclusion of Dr Parul Desai of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and her colleagues, based on their one-year study of all admissions to hospital eye departments in Scotland. By extrapolating their findings, which are published in the current issue of the British Journal of Ophthalmology, the researchers estimate that in Britain as a whole almost 250 preventable injuries lead to permanent blindness every year. Over half of those take place in the home.

According to Desai, domestic tools such as electric drills are the most common causes of these injuries. So does this mean we are becoming more careless in our own homes? No, she says. But while the workplace and recreational facilities have been targeted for safety strategies since the 1970s Ð as part of the governmentÕs Health of the Nation strategy, for instance Ð the home has been ignored. ÔThe home has not previously been recognised as a place worth bothering about,Õ says Desai. By educating people to take even the most simple precautions such as improving the lighting in their home, she believes at least some sight-threatening injuries could be prevented.

Sources: British Journal of Ophthalmology, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine