Young Aussie blokes more likely to have serious eye injuries

20 January 2009

Young men are more likely to come to hospital for a serious eye injury than any other age group.

Relative to the overall amount of patients at the Royal Victorian Eye and Ear Hospital, people aged between 20 and 39 years make up 31 per cent of emergency cases while only representing 14 per cent of all other cases.

The Royal Victorian Eye and Ear Hospital’s Community Mapping Report found the greatest proportion of most urgent cases in eye emergencies were chemical eye injuries.

Emergency Department Director Dr Carmel Crock said chemical eye injuries can happen on worksites and at home.

“Cement and plaster dust can be particularly dangerous if they end up in someone’s eyes. It is vital the patient's eyes are irrigated onsite straight away and then the patient is taken to hospital for further treatment. Alkaline substances can blind if not treated immediately which is why the importance of wearing eye protection on worksites and when doing home handyman jobs cannot be over emphasised.”

Last year the Eye and Ear saw close to 27,000 eye patients in their emergency department and almost 15,000 ear, nose and throat (ENT) patients.

Report co-author Dr Cherylee Lane said males of all ages were over-represented in emergency presentations making up 64 per cent of the most urgent cases.

“Patients born overseas made up a lesser proportion of patients in emergency than expected. While they make up over half of the hospital’s total patient numbers, overseas born patients only represented 38 per cent of emergency presentations.”

Some other key findings from the Community Mapping Report that stood out were:

• There was a decline in the number of people over the age of 80 who attended the hospital for sight and hearing conditions despite sensory impairment being more prevalent in older people
• A low proportion of elderly patients live in nursing homes compared to the Australian population
• 46 per cent of eye patients and 37 per cent of ENT patients are born overseas. Only 26 per cent of the Victorian population is born overseas.
• Double the number of men aged between 34 and 44 attend the hospital for eye conditions as women in the same age group
• Patients at the hospital spoke 85 different languages
• A higher proportion of patients came from either the least disadvantaged or most disadvantaged social groups than the Victorian population
• 13 per cent of eye patients and eight per cent of ENT patients required an interpreter. Only four per cent of Victorians have low English proficiency
• The proportion of eye patients who indentified as Indigenous was slightly lower than the Victorian population. The proportion of ENT patients who identified as Indigenous was similar to that of the Victorian population
• Eye patients from rural areas of Victoria are on average five years younger than their city counterparts
• Rural patients had a high proportion of attendances to hospital for urgent specialist eye treatment compared to their overall attendances

The Eye and Ear is the major provider of eye and ear, nose and throat (ENT) health care services in the state.

This report aimed to find which groups of people are currently using the hospital’s services and in doing so, identify the under-represented groups.

Report co-author Kellie Michel said the Community Mapping Report provides an interesting snapshot of who uses vision and hearing services in Victoria.

"While this report didn't focus on the reasons behind the findings, consultations with community organisations and hospital staff suggested that geographic location and patient group and service characteristics could affect usage patterns.”

Chief Executive Officer of the Royal Victorian Eye and Ear Hospital Ann Clark said the Community Mapping report provides a vital insight into how we should plan for the future.

“The Eye and Ear is currently working towards redevelopment to make sure the needs of the future community are met. We now know which groups most need the hospital’s services and the groups who aren’t accessing them and we will now start creating models of care that will meet these needs.”

The report is an initiative of the Royal Victorian Eye and Ear Hospital’s Community Advisory Committee and was undertaken by the Centre for Eye Research Australia using data collected from all patients who used the hospital’s services in 2007.

More information on Community Mapping Report

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