Glaucoma awareness in a hospital presenting population in eastern Nepal.

OBJECTIVE

The aim of this study was to assess awareness and knowledge regarding glaucoma among people attending free eye clinic in eastern region of Nepal.

METHODS

All the consecutive patients aged 35 years or older, who presented to the free eye clinic, were invited to participate in this cross-sectional survey conducted in June-July 2010. All the participants were residents of Morang district of eastern Nepal. Data on demographics and awareness of glaucoma were collected through face-to-face interview using a pretested structured questionnaire. Participants who have heard about glaucoma were considered as aware and those giving an agreeable definition were considered as having knowledge on glaucoma.

RESULTS

A total of 348 subjects participated in this study. The mean age of the participants was 48.3±12.0 years. The majority of them were females, residents of rural areas, and literates. Among the total participants, 211 (60.6%) were aware of the term glaucoma. Only 19 (5.5%) of the total participants had some knowledge of glaucoma. The awareness on glaucoma was significantly associated with higher level of education, family history of glaucoma, and previous history of eye check up.

CONCLUSIONS

Knowledge of glaucoma in this population is very low. No particular groups of people are aware of glaucoma in this part of the country. Health education should be broadly targeted at the population to educate people about the risk factors of glaucoma and thereby prevent needless blindness.