Rural Americans were five times more likely than urban residents to be treated in emergency departments for eye injuries in 2008, according to a recent report from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.  The federal agency found that rural Americans made 646 visits to hospital emergency departments per 100,000 population, compared to 120 visits per 100,000 population for those in urban areas.

For patients treated in the emergency department and released (approximately 97 percent of all eye injury encounters), AHRQ found that:

·         The three most common types of eye injuries were cornea scratches (50 percent), followed by cuts to the eyelid or around the eye (9 percent), and bruises around the eye (7 percent).

·         Of these injuries, 32 percent were caused by being hit in the eye by something or someone, falling down (9 percent), getting a caustic substance in the eye (4 percent), insect bites or other reasons (3 percent), or being in a motor vehicle accident (nearly 3 percent).

For the 3 percent of patients admitted to the hospital for eye injuries in 2008:

·         The most common types of injuries were wounds to the tear glands (17 percent), bruised eye sockets (15 percent), and bruised eyelids (11 percent).

·         Falls were the major cause of these injuries (36 percent), followed by motor vehicle accidents (19 percent), being hit by something or somebody (12 percent), other reasons including insect bites (3 percent), and getting burned by a caustic substance (1 percent).

 These findings are based on data described in Emergency Department Visits Related to Eye Injuries, 2008. The report uses data from the 2008 Nationwide Emergency Department Sample, a database of hospital emergency department encounters occurring in short-term, non-federal hospitals.