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Intraocular foreign bodies in Asia: insights from the Global Burden of Disease 2019 Study

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Abstract

Background

Intraocular foreign bodies (IOFBs) constitute a significant public health concern that hinders the accumulation of human capital in countries in Asia. This research aims to identify and project the time trend of the IOFB disease burden in Asia to 2035.

Methods

We utilised data collected from the Global Health Data Exchange (GHDx) query tool. Time Trends of disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) and incidence of IOFBs were calculated. Age- and gender-specific disease burden of IOFBs in 2019 was also analysed. A Bayesian age-period cohort (BAPC) model with integrated nested Laplace approximations (INLA) was applied to project the number and rate of the disease burden attributable to IOFB from 2020 to 2035.

Results

In Asia, the DALYs number increased from 290,521.62 (95% UI: 146,816.5–513,604.1) in 1990 to 388,363.39 (95% UI: 206,296.3–668,164.9) in 2019. The number of DALYs showed an upward trend until the age of 45–49 years, and then decreased in later age groups. The age-standardised incidence rate (ASIR) of China is projected to increase substantially from 719.03 in 2019 to 3127.06 in 2035. Singapore is projected to experience a slight decline, while the remaining six countries are projected to have slight, steady increases in ASIR.

Conclusion

Countries in Asia are facing a huge disease burden of IOFB, and ASIRs are projected to increase over the next 15 years in most Asian countries. These findings contribute valuable evidence-based guidance for public health policy in disease prevention, medical planning and resource allocation pertaining to IOFBs in Asia.

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Fig. 1: Trends in DALYs and Incidence of Intraocular Foreign Bodies (IOFBs) from 1990 to 2019.
Fig. 2: Age- and gender-specific disease burden of IOFBs in Asia (2019).
Fig. 3: Comparative analysis of IOFB disease burden and socioeconomic indicators in eight Asian countries (2019).
Fig. 4: Projected time trends of age-standardised incidence rate (ASIR) for IOFBs in eight Asian countries (1990–2035).

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Data availability

The datasets generated during and analysed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by National Key Research and Development Program of China(2023YFE0203100) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 82271051, 82070926).

Funding

This work was supported by National Key Research and Development Program of China(2023YFE0203100) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 82271051, 82070926).

Author information

Author notes

  1. These authors contributed equally: Bo Yang, Haozhe Yu.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Ophthalmology, Peking University Third Hospital, Beijing, China

    Bo Yang, Haozhe Yu & Yun Feng

  2. Royal Centre for Defence Medicine, Birmingham, UK

    Richard Blanch

  3. Institute of Inflammation and Ageing, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK

    Richard Blanch

  4. Birmingham Neuro-Ophthalmology, University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust, Birmingham, UK

    Richard Blanch

  5. Save Sight Institute, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia

    Annette Hoskin

  6. Lions Eye Institute, University of Western Australia, Perth, WA, Australia

    Annette Hoskin

  7. Department of Data Analytics and Epidemiology, The Geneva Foundation, JBSA Fort Sam Houston, San Antonio, TX, USA

    Amanda M. Staudt

  8. National Healthcare Group Eye Institute, Tan Tock Seng Hospital, Singapore, Singapore

    Rupesh Agrawal

  9. Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, Singapore

    Rupesh Agrawal

  10. Singapore Eye Research Institute, Singapore, Singapore

    Rupesh Agrawal

  11. Duke NUS Medical School, Singapore, Singapore

    Rupesh Agrawal

  12. Department of Ophthalmology, Peking University First Hospital, Beijing, China

    Yun Feng

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Contributions

Bo Yang and Haozhe Yu contributed equally. Contributors Bo Yang and Haozhe Yu designed the research, drafted the manuscript and participated in data analysis. Bo Yang was responsible for the data collection and accessed and verified the data. Haozhe Yu was responsible for the refinement of the content and language of the manuscript. Richard Blanch, Annette Hoskin, Amanda M Staudt and Rupesh Agrawal were responsible for revising and polishing the manuscript. Yun Feng was involved in critically designing the research and revising the manuscript. Yun Feng was guarantor.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Yun Feng.

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Yang, B., Yu, H., Blanch, R. et al. Intraocular foreign bodies in Asia: insights from the Global Burden of Disease 2019 Study. Eye (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41433-026-04399-z

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