Victims with eye trauma have serious difficulties working and studying

A study reveals the impact of vision loss and its repercussion on the development of daily life, work and social tasks, due to ocular mutilation and severe vision loss caused by the use of weapons to repress the 2019 protests in the framework of the social outbreak by the Carabineros of Chile.

This scientific work was led by academics from the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Chile of the Department of Medical Technology and Occupational Therapy, together with professionals from the Department of Ophthalmology of the Hospital Del Salvador and published in the scientific journal “International Ophthalmology” of the Springer Nature publishing house, considered one of the most important in the world.

Miguel Ángel Campos, academic at the Department of Medical Technology of the University of Chile and the Hospital del Salvador, pointed out that “this study, unique in the world, made it possible to recognize the impact of visual loss and its association with daily tasks that those affected no longer they can perform optimally, such as those that require precision with their hands, recognition of floor levels, safe movement without falls or accidents, the correct performance of their paid jobs, studies and other activities of daily living.

Joaquín Varas, an academic at the Department of Occupational Therapy and Occupational Sciences of the University of Chile, points out that “there are around 450 cases reported. “It is an unprecedented number of victims of ocular trauma in the history of humanity.”

The director of the Department of Medical Technology, Patricio Bustamante, added that “some survivors have taken their own lives, reflecting the deep hopelessness that can accompany such injuries.”

Results

Among others, the study revealed that when asked how unsafe they feel about tripping and/or falling when walking on the street, 60.1% of the victims of ocular trauma observed present extreme or high insecurity.

Likewise, regarding the difficulty you have in manipulating objects with precision, 72.9% of the victims of ocular trauma observed have extreme, high or moderate difficulty.

On the other hand, regarding the degree of difficulty they currently have in carrying out their productive tasks, both educational and/or occupational, 61.2% of the victims of ocular trauma observed present extreme or high difficulty.

Likewise, 69.4% of the victims of ocular trauma observed have extreme, high or moderate difficulty in carrying out their hobbies and pastimes.

Functional index

All this was possible and studied through the creation of an index called visual-functional impact (IPVF) or VFIP in English (Visual Functional-Impact) that ranges from 0 to 100, where 0 represents that there are no difficulties associated with the loss. of vision and 100 as extreme difficulty in carrying out daily activities.

These difficulties associated with vision loss had not previously been addressed in other studies with people who have lost vision traumatically, especially in the context of weapon use. Regarding this, the few investigations that exist have focused on describing vision loss without directly associating it with the limitations of human daily and work activities.

The research also manages to reveal how important visual rehabilitation is in low vision by a multidisciplinary team, considering all aspects of the human being to improve people’s quality of life. In Chile, multidisciplinary low vision rehabilitation care is still not guaranteed or included in public health facilities.

These results presented are in line worldwide with other research for the prohibition of the use of pellets in crowd control and respect for protocols in their use, given the low precision, high hardness and great damage they produce in parts of the body as relevant and sensory as the eyes.

Link complete study in International Ophthalmology (English):