Awareness and knowledge on glaucoma in Ikpoba-Okha, south-south Nigeria

Abstract

Background: Glaucoma is a leading cause of blindness in the world, second only to cataract. Awareness of the nature and treatment of a common eye condition such as glaucoma could be important, as this could translate to better uptake of treatment, thereby reducing the risk of progression to irreversible blindness or ocular damage
Methods: This study was a descriptive cross-sectional study of awareness and knowledge of glaucoma among adults in Ikpoba-Okha Local Government Area, Edo State. A multistage sampling technique was used to select 5 communities (wards) out of the 10 wards in the Local Government Area for the survey.
Results: A total of 430 respondents participated in the study. One hundred and sixty-three (38%) of the respondents had heard of glaucoma (awareness). Among these, 20.9% of the respondents knew that glaucoma was damage to the nerve of the eye due to high pressure in the eye; 23.3% knew glaucoma to be high pressure in the eye. Respondents in the age group of 30-39 years (p< 0.001) and those with tertiary level of education (p< 0.001) had higher awareness of glaucoma. Those with tertiary education had the most knowledge about glaucoma (p= 0.058). Logistic regression showed that younger subjects (adjusted odds ratio = 2.566; 95% CI = 1.636, 4.023; p = 0.001) and those with formal education (adjusted odds ratio = 3.579; 95% CI = 1.290, 9.901; p = 0.014) were more likely to be aware of glaucoma.
Conclusion: The results show that health education and formal education among the adults in this local government area would be important in prevention of blindness from glaucoma.