When the elderly experience falls, indicators of systemic vulnerabilities can be overlooked in emergency triage, rehabilitation and recovery and preventing recurrences when addressing these injuries as isolated incidents. Despite the widening literature on the linkages between falls, severe injuries and mortality in the elderly, no study has specifically addressed the correlation between ocular trauma and mortality in this population. A collaborative team of University of North Carolina Department of Ophthalmology and Department of Statistics researchers recently addressed this topic in a National Institute of Aging (NIA)-funded study entitled, “Geriatric ocular trauma and mortality: A retrospective cohort study,” published in the May 28th, 2025, issue of PLOS One. 
Study authors tracked five-year mortality rates among geriatric patients aged 65+ with histories of either ocular trauma (cases) or age-related nuclear cataracts (controls). Compared to age-matched controls without such injuries, geriatric patients who had sustained eye injuries were found to be at higher risk of mortality. Study authors posited that elderly decline in instinctive protective responses that typically guard the face may indicate breakdown of protective mechanisms and contribute to increased mortality within 5 years following an ocular injury.
In their study discussion, UNC research collaborators recommend multi-disciplinary interventions in treatment, rehabilitation, recovery and preventing recurrence as a means of improving outcomes in the elderly who have sustained eye injuries. The study authors emphasize close monitoring as a responsibility shared by treating eye specialists and primary care physicians (PCPs) who participate in treatment and continuity of care for these individuals. Such measures range from injury response (eg, emergency setting vision screenings for ocular trauma patients) to avoiding injury recurrence (eg, proactive, multidisciplinary post-injury assessments concentrated within the initial year following trauma).
Study co-author and UNC Ophthalmology Vice Chair Dr. Fleischman concluded: “Eye surgeons frequently encounter isolated orbital trauma in the emergency setting, particularly in older adults. The data suggest that these injuries may be more than just localized events, however. We’re learning such incidents could be sentinel signs of broader systemic vulnerability and increased mortality risk, especially in the first year after injury. It is important to communicate to the primary care team caring for an aging patient how seemingly isolated orbital trauma is in truth indicative of potential for recurrent injury and other systemic risks that the elderly experience at higher rates.”
To read the full text of “Geriatric ocular trauma and mortality: A retrospective cohort study,” visit online the May 28th, 2025, issue of PLOS One.