Epidemiologic and Clinical Characteristics of Ocular Trauma in Gangwon Province: A 10-Year Retrospective Study

Purpose: We analyzed the epidemiologic and clinical characteristics of ocular trauma patients presenting to a regional emergency medical center in Gangwon Province.Methods: Our retrospective study included 5,305 patients diagnosed with ocular trauma who visited Chuncheon Sacred Heart Hospital between January 2015 and August 2025. Patients were categorized by injury severity as mild (group 0), moderate (group 1), or severe (group 2). Clinical variables analyzed included sex, age, site of injury, cause of trauma, association with occupational or leisure activities, and visual acuity.Results: Of the 5,305 patients, 4,670 (88.0%) were classified as group 0, 540 (10.2%) as group 1, and 95 (1.8%) as group 2. The overall mean age was 39.5 ± 20.4 years and 74.0% of patients were male. Patients in group 2 were older with a mean age of 54.7 ± 15.7 years and predominantly male (98.9%, p < 0.001). Occupation-related ocular trauma accounted for 15.3% of all cases and was significantly more frequent in group 2 (33.7%, p < 0.001) with manufacturing being the most common industry (32.7%). Sports/leisure-related ocular trauma accounted for 13.2% of cases and demonstrated an increasing trend from 11.8% in 2016 to 16.7% in 2024 (p = 0.022). The most common injury types were corneal abrasion (51.6%), ocular contusion (20.6%), and orbital wall fracture (9.5%).Conclusions: Most ocular trauma cases presenting to the regional emergency medical center in Gangwon Province were mild. Severe ocular trauma was associated with older age, male sex, and occupational causes. In addition, the incidence of occupation-related and sports/leisure-related ocular trauma exhibited an increasing trend over the past decade.