Practices Leading to Eye Injuries in Children Admitted at Sekuru Kaguvi Hospital Aged One to Sixteen Years from February to April 2022

Abstract

A retrospective study of 96 eyes of 96 children aged one to sixteen years who presented with eye injuries between February and April 2022 at Sekuru Kaguvi eye unit’s admitting wards was conducted. The research was quantitative since the researcher explored onto the frequency of causes and practices leading to eye injuries in children with the mentioned age group. Sekuru Kaguvi Hospital is part of Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals and a referral eye center for the whole of Zimbabwe. The purpose of the study was to find out practices leading to eye injuries in children admitted at Sekuru Kaguvi wards aged one to sixteen years from February to April 2022. Objectives of the study were to identify demographic factors related to the occurrence of eye injuries in children aged one to sixteen years admitted at Sekuru Kaguvi wards and to establish common causes leading to eye injuries in children aged one to sixteen years admitted at SKH wards. Relevant literature from different authors and researchers was reviewed. The researcher sought permission from Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals management where data collection was done as well as from Africa University Research Ethics Committee and got a positive response. The sample size was 96. Systematic sampling method was used whereby the second parent presenting with a child for admission at SKH wards with eye injuries and within one to sixteen age group was chosen. The data collection instrument used was a questionnaire which presented in Shona and English. The study was retrospective since parents filled in questionnaires on what transpired when their child got injured and what the cause of injury was. The researcher did a pilot study by selecting five participants to fill in the questionnaires so as to test the feasibility of this instrument. The questions were well answered and no changes were made. Parents or guardians who are the participants signed the consent after some explanation from the researcher and filled in the questionnaires on their own. The researcher read through those filled in questionnaires and came out with study results. The study revealed that boys were the most affected as they constituted to 74% of the study sample and girls 26% meaning that almost 3 quarters were boys. The 6 to 10 years age group had the highest score of 42.71%, followed by 0 to 5years with 32.29%, 11 to 14 years scored 18.75% and lastly 15 to 16 years had a 6.25% score. The common cause of eye injuries was identified as sharp objects which scored 68%, injuries which occurred when children were playing summed up to 69%, assaults 2% and others 29%. The most common type of injuries presented were corneal and scleral perforations with a 62.24% score. There was no significant difference in the occurrence of eye injuries in children who stay in rural areas and those staying in urban areas. From this study the majority of the causes of eye injuries were preventable. Appropriate promotion of preventive eye care among children may help to reduce the burden of blindness from eye injuries. Parents need to strengthen their monitoring skills especially on boys who usually play outdoors.