The global incidence and disability of eye injury: an analysis from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019

Cong Li; Yongyan Fu; Shunming Liu; Honghua Yu; Xiaohong Yang; Meixia Zhang; Lei Liu

doi:10.1016/j.eclinm.2023.102134

The global incidence and disability of eye injury: an analysis from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019

EClinicalMedicine. 2023 Aug 9:62:102134. doi: 10.1016/j.eclinm.2023.102134. eCollection 2023 Aug.

Authors

Cong Li^{1

2}, Yongyan Fu³, Shunming Liu¹, Honghua Yu^{1

4}, Xiaohong Yang¹, Meixia Zhang^{5

6}, Lei Liu¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Ophthalmology, Guangdong Eye Institute, Guangdong Provincial People's Hospital (Guangdong Academy of Medical Sciences), Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, 510080, China.
² School of Medicine South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, Guangdong, 510006, China.
³ Department of Ophthalmology, The People's Hospital of Liaoning Province, 33 Wenyi Road, Shenhe District, Shenyang, 110016, China.
⁴ Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Artificial Intelligence in Medical Image Analysis and Application, Guangzhou, Guangdong, 510080, China.
⁵ Department of Ophthalmology, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, Sichuan, 610041, China.
⁶ Macular Disease Research Laboratory, Department of Ophthalmology, Sichuan University, West China Hospital, Chengdu, Sichuan, 610041, China.

Abstract

Background: The aim of the present study was to estimate the incidence, years lived with disability (YLDs), and cause of eye injury at global, regional, and national levels by age and sex based on the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) 2019.

Methods: This is a retrospective demographic analysis based on aggregated data. GBD 2019 included the burden of eye injury worldwide and its temporal and spatial characteristics in the past three decades. The Bayesian meta-regression tool and DisMod-MR 2.1 were used to analyse the estimates based on a linear regression mode of the age-standardised rates (ASR). Average annual percent change (AAPC) was calculated to represent the temporal trends of the ASR.

Findings: Globally, there were 59,933.29 thousand (95% uncertainty interval [UI]: 45,772.34-77,084.03) incident cases and 438.4 thousand (95% UI: 132.44-898.38) YLDs of eye injury in 2019. Both the ASR of incidence and YLDs decreased from 1990 to 2019, with AAPC -0.46 (95% confidence interval [CI]: -0.52 to -0.39) and -0.45 (95% CI: -0.52 to -0.39), respectively. Males had higher rates of incidence and YLDs in all age groups. Young and middle-aged adults had higher disease burdens. Regionally, Australasia had the highest ASR of YLDs to be 9.51 (95% UI: 3.00-19.58) per 100,000. Nationally, New Zealand had the highest burden of eye injury to be 11.33 (95% UI: 3.57-23.10) per 100,000. Foreign bodies, exposure to mechanical forces, and falls were the main causes of global eye injury burden in 2019, and there was an increased worldwide burden due to road injuries and executions and police conflict compared with 1990.

Interpretation: Our findings suggest that the incidence and burden of eye injury have decreased over the last 30 years, while the absolute number of eye injuries has substantially increased, representing a major public health concern. Males and young adults were affected to a greater degree than females and elder individuals. More attention should be paid to road injuries and executions and police conflict in order to prevent eye injury.

Funding: Guangdong Provincial People's Hospital (GDPH) Supporting Fund for Talent Program (KY0120220263).

Keywords: Cause; Eye injury; GBD 2019; Incidence; Years lived with disability.