EYE INJURIES IN THE U.S.

The following statistics are based on estimates from the United States Eye Injury 

Registry (2000)    Selected data 1988 2000: 

Eye injury is a leading cause of monocular blindness in the United States, and is 

second only to cataract as the most common cause of visual impairment. 

Causes of Eye Injury: 

  Blunt objects account for about 31% of eye injuries, 18% are caused by sharp 

objects, 9% by motor vehicle crashes, with the remainder caused by bb/pellet 

guns (6%), nails (5%), hammer on metal (5%), fireworks (5%), guns (5%), falls 

(4%), explosion (3%), and other (8%). 

Age 

The majority of all eye injuries occur in persons under thirty years of age (57%). 

Persons with an eye injury are an average age of 29 years (median age=26 years).  

Place of Injury 

  The highest proportion of eye injuries occur in the home (40%), followed by 

street/highway (13%), industrial (13%), playing a sport (13%), other (12%), and 

9% are unknown. 

Work Related Eye Injuries  

  20% of eye injuries are work related with 95% occurring among males. 

The leading occupation reported was construction. 

26