Glaucoma Patients’ Perceptions and Factors Influencing Encouragement of Relatives for Glaucoma Screening at a Specialist Eye Clinic in Anambra State, Nigeria

Abstract

Context: Targeted screening of high-risk relatives of glaucoma patients is a key strategy of mitigating the menace of late presentation and glaucoma-related blindness in resource-limited and middle-income countries.

Aim: To assess glaucoma patients’ perceptions of familial glaucoma and identify factors associated with encouraging relatives to undergo glaucoma screening.

Materials and Methods: This was an analytical cross-sectional study conducted (January-June 2025) among 181 adult patients in a specialist eye clinic in southeastern Nigeria. A pretested interviewer-administered questionnaire was used to obtain data on demographic and clinical characteristics of respondents, knowledge and perceptions of familial glaucoma, and familial screening practices. The variables were summarised descriptively, and bivariate and multivariate analyses were used to examine associations between dependent and independent variables; p-values < 0.05 were considered statistically significant.

Results: The mean age of respondents was 63.79 ± 13.32 years, 51.4% were females. The majority (n=81.8%) believed relatives should be screened for glaucoma; however, only (43.6%) did so. There were significant associations between encouragement by relatives for screening, family history of glaucoma, perception of glaucoma as a familial disease, and perception that screening is necessary for relatives (<0.001). Perception that screening is necessary was the strongest independent predictor of encouragement (aOR = 16.44; 95% CI: 3.54–76.34; p < 0.001). Middle-aged (aOR = 8.64; 95% CI: 1.11–67.18; p = 0.039) and older patients (aOR = 13.41; 95% CI: 1.75–102.72; p = 0.012) had higher odds of encouraging relatives than younger patients.

Conclusion: Fewer than half of respondents encouraged their relatives to undergo screening, despite high awareness of its importance. This reiterates the need for improved family-centred glaucoma education through counselling to enhance screening uptake among high-risk relatives for earlier detection of glaucoma.