A new cross-sectional study published in JAMA Ophthalmology assessed the epidemiologic pattern and injury method of intimate partner violence (IPV)-related ocular trauma across the United States.
Give me some background on IPV-related ocular injuries.
Research has estimated that, out of the 68% of women struck in the face during IPV, 45% were hit specifically in the eyes.
Additionally, 20% of orbital trauma caused by IPV had no record of cause—meaning the prevalence of incidence may be grossly underreported due to a number of undisclosed cases.
What are some common ocular injuries?
Such eye / visual pathway trauma can include glaucoma, retinal detachment and hemorrhage, ruptured globes, and orbital fractures.
Further, irreversible vision loss has been associated with non-ocular effects, including mental health issues, loss of independence, impaired mobility, and a decline in quality of life.
Now tell me about the study.
The study utilized 2017-2019 data from the National Trauma Data Bank (NTDB) and the ICD-10 codes used to categorize both ocular injury and adult survivors of IPV.
Ocular injuries were organized as the following:
- Disease of the eye and adnexa
- Contusion of eyelid and periocular area
- Open wound of eyelid and periocular area
- Fracture of orbital floor
- Injury of optic nerve and pathways
- Injury of eye and orbit
- Effects of foreign body on external eye
- Burn and corrosion confined to eye and adnexa
Researchers also collected non-ocular information, including (but not limited to):
- Demographic data
- Sex
- Age
- Race and ethnicity
- Place of injury
- Total Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) score
- GCS eye score
- Abbreviated Injury Scale (AIS)
What did they find?
From 2017 to 2019, the NTDB included 508,976 records of adult patients with ocular injuries, of which 2,598 were associated with IPV.
Of the ocular injuries associated with IPV, 62.3% of patients were female (mean age of 45.2) and 52.3% were White.
What else?
Among other findings, the majority of ocular injuries included orbital fractures (37.1%)contusion of the eyelid and periocular eyelid (25.8%), and injury of the eye and orbit (19.9%).
Limitations?
The study authors pointed out several limitations of the study, particularly those related to the limitations of the ICD-10 coding system, which does not completely describe injury locations or types.
Furthermore, the NTDB did not include mechanisms of injury or patient IPV history, somewhat limiting the insights regarding SDOH and IPV predictors.
Conclusions.
The authors concluded that IPV-related ocular trauma was more common in women; they also identified the following social determinants of health (SDOH) as important risk factors: sex, substance abuse, race and ethnicity, age, social support, and socioeconomic resources.
They further stated that the study findings provide a basis for further research that is needed to explore the connection between IPV and ophthalmology.