Association of eye injury on the child's academic success and social inclusion level: a case-crossover study

Abstract

Purpose: To investigate the association between an eye injury and later academic performance as well as the level of social engagement.Method: A case-crossover study was used to investigate any changes in academic success and social inclusion before and after an injury. Eligibility criteria included all severe injuries admitted during 2011-2017 period at the main regional clinic. Parents/caregivers were surveyed during 2018-2019 asking questions on academic performance, level of community or social involvement. Results. The total sample for assessing social inclusion and academic success were 36 and 25 children, respectively. In the following academic year's kappa agreements decreased from 0.88 (p-value <0.001) comparing pre-injury with one-year post to 0.5106 (p-value <.0001) in the second year and 0.4750 (p-value=0.003) in the third, suggesting the deteriorating trend of academic success with subsequent years. Comparing academic success before an injury to two years and three years after the injury, p-values in the Wilcoxon signed-rank test were significant (p=0.005706, and 0.003328, respectively) showing the worsening trend with time. The Fisher score showed a significant association only between final visual acuity and levels of social inclusion after an injury. Using the Wilcoxon signed-rank test and the kappa results suggested no association between an eye injury and social inclusion.Conclusion: Our findings suggest no association between social inclusion and eye trauma, while in later years academic success may be more impacted by the eye injury. Due to their unpredictability in childhood age a supportive and sensitive climate at home and school is essential to minimize deleterious responses to eye trauma.