Causes and Characteristics of Occupational Eye Injuries in Western Turkey

Patients with work-related eye injuries (WREI) admitted to the center in the four-year period were enrolled in this prospective study. Institutional Review Board approval was obtained before commencement of the study. A special data recording system was developed for the study. The study sample comprised only the casualties occurred at workplace and while working de facto. The data were abstracted via face to face contact in the emergency department (ED). The data sheets comprised sociodemographic and injury-related information brought together in 15-item questionnaire. Causes of occupational injuries as reported by the victims were assigned to either of two groups: "Worker-related causes" and "workplace-related causes".

Since workers are known to be pressured by the workplace to work in unsafe ways, an isolated room in the ED was used for this purpose in order to prevent bias and the patients were not accompanied by any person other than the medical personnel in charge of due medical care. The patients were also assured that the information obtained by the survey are to be used for research purposes only and no feedback is to be given to employers or related persons.

Patients who did not give consent for the study, fatal accidents and patients younger than 15 years of age were excluded from the analysis.