Regional variability
rupture, ocular co-morbidities, injuries, corneal injury
LOW VISION
The majority (148, 53%) of ASCOT participants were recruited from hospitals in London, a quarter came from the Midlands & Northern England (70, 25%), 55 (20%) were recruited in Southern England and 7 from Scotland (3%). London had a higher proportion of Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) participants (24%) than any other region (Southern England: 4%, Midlands and North England: 11% and Scotland: 0%). This variation reflects the regional ethnic diversity in the wider population, at the most recent 2011 census 40% of London residents identified as BAME versus 8% in Southern England, 11% in the Midlands and North England and 4% in Scotland [There was little difference between the causes of injury across the regions. In London, nearly half (70, 47%) of all injuries were categorised as penetrating, with 46 (31%) as rupture. However, all other regions had substantially higher amounts of ruptures than penetrations. Similarly, injuries in London were more frequently to zone 1 of the eye (corneal injury) than to zone 2 (scleral anterior) (39% vs 35% [58 vs 52]), whereas the reverse was true in other regions. There was a higher history of ocular co-morbidities for patients in London (21, 14%) and Midlands & North England (7, 10%).More than 25% of patients in London and Scotland had an ETDRS score above zero (zero indicating very low vision of counting fingers or worse).