- More than 600,000 eye injuries related to sports and recreation occur each year1. 42,000 of these injuries are of a severity that requires Emergency Room attention.2
- More than 90% of all eye injuries can be prevented with the use of appropriate protective eyewear.3
- Sports participants using "street wear" (corrective eyewear or sunwear that does not conform to ASTM standard F803) are at a far more severe risk of eye injury than participants using no eye injury protection at all.4
- The American Academy of Pediatrics, American Academy of Ophthalmology and American Optometric Association all strongly recommend protective eyewear for all participants in sports in which there is a risk of eye injury.5
- The following sports are considered a high-to-moderate risk of eye injury: Basketball, Baseball, Softball, Lacrosse, Hockey, Tennis, Soccer, Volleyball, Water Polo, Football, Air Rifle, BB Gun, Paintball, Boxing, Martial Arts, Cricket, Squash, Racquetball, Fencing, Badminton, Fishing and Golf.6
- One-in-eighteen college athletes will sustain an eye injury each season. The odds increase to one-in-ten for basketball players.7
- One-in-eight victims of severe eye injury, and one-in-twenty victims of less-severe eye injury, initiate legal proceedings against parties assumed to be responsible.8
- A market sampling in Michigan9 determined that:
-97% of high schools do not have a Sports Vision Program
-98% of high school coaches would be interested in a Sports Vision Program
-99% of high schools have never been approached regarding the establishment of a Sports Vision Program - According to the 2002 National Health Interview Survey, 84.6% of children do not utilize protective eyewear in situations that represent a risk of eye injury.
- Increasing the use of protective eyewear in sports is a goal of the National Institute of Health's "Healthy People 2010” 10
Sources
1 Tri-Service Vision Conservation and Readiness Program, Eyes (Ears) and Workers Compensation.
2 US Consumer Product Safety Commission, Sports and Recreational Eye Injuries. Washington, DC: US Consumer Product Safety Commission; 2000
3 Prevent Blindness America
4 National Eye Institute
5 AAP/AAO Policy Statement 2004 and 2003 House of Delegates, Journal of American Optometric Association, Sept. 2003
6-8 Vinger PF. A practical guide for sports eye injury protection. Phys Sports Med. 2000; 28(6)
9 Michigan Optometric Association
10 Healthy People 2010