EVALUATION OF PREVALENCE AND ETIOLOGY OF EYE INJURY IN REFERRALS TO TABRIZ LEGAL MEDICINE CENTER DURING 2005, 2006

The most common causes of referring to legal medicine centers are eye injuries. These injuries commonly occur in young men and may cause irreversible and disabling consequences. This study aims at providing epidemiologic data on eye injuries in Tabriz Legal Medicine Center during 2005-6. Methods & Materials: In an analytic descriptive cross sectional study 954 patients with eye injury were evaluated. Epidemiological, ethological characteristics, location of trauma and the final outcome were assessed. Nine hundred fifty four patients with eye injury were recruited. 740 patients (74.4%) were men and 244 patients (25.6%) were women. The mean age was 31.58±13.49 (1-82) years and the most prevalent age group was 20-30 years old. 690 patients (72.3%) were literate. Assault (65. 8%), traffic accident (23.5%), husband violence (9.5%), occupational trauma (0.8%), blast injury (0.2%), and fall (0.1%) were recorded. In 451 cases (47.3%) the injuries happened in work place and in 241 (25.3%) patients happened at home. Trauma led to blindness in 4 patients (0.45) and decreased acuity in 13 patients (1.4%). The majority of injured patients were young males. The beatings and quarrels were the leading causes of physical injury.