Knowledge about glaucoma among patients attending the outpatient department of the department of ophthalmology of a tertiary care hospital
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.18203/2320-6012.ijrms20221585Keywords:
Knowledge, Glaucoma, Blindness, QuestionnaireAbstract
Background: Glaucoma is the leading cause of irreversible blindness in the world. It is a noncommunicable chronic eye disease which needs lifelong care and treatment. Optic nerve damage is progressive and the disease mostly remains asymptomatic which makes it a public health challenge. Raising public awareness and knowledge about glaucoma is a key factor in early detection and management. The aim of the study was to assess knowledge about glaucoma among patients attending the eye outpatient department (OPD) of a tertiary care hospital.
Methods: This study was conducted on 100 patients who attended the eye OPD of department of ophthalmology, Government Medical College (GMC), Jammu from December 2021 to May 2022. The study subjects were given a questionnaire and they had to respond to questions by choosing one of the three options.
Results: In our study the mean age of patients was 50.65 years with majority of patients (50%) falling in the age group of 30 to 50 years. The male to female ratio was 1.7:1. Only 23% of the study subjects were knowledgeable about the fact that glaucoma was the most important cause of irreversible blindness. 83% of the respondents correctly identified people over 40 years of age at risk for developing glaucoma. Only 25% of the respondents identified pressure related damage to optic nerve as a feature of glaucoma. Majority of patients were unaware about asymptomatic nature of glaucoma. 93% of the study subjects considered glaucoma treatable. Only 23% had knowledge that irreversible loss of vision was the end result of glaucoma.
Conclusions: This study showed that knowledge about glaucoma was limited in our part of the country. There is a need to increase awareness about the disease so that we can reduce the burden of glaucoma related blindness.
Metrics
References
Casson RJ, Glyn Chidlow G, Wood JPM, Crowston JG, Goldberg I. Definition of glaucoma:clinical and experimental concepts. Clin Exp Ophthalmol. 2012;40(4):341-49.
Kingman S. Glaucoma is the second leading cause of blindness globally. Bull World Health Org. 2004;82(11):887-8.
Dandona L, Dandona R. What is the global burden of visual impairment? BMC Med. 2006;4:6.
Ronnie G, Ramesh SV, Lingam V. Glaucoma in India: estimated burden of disease. J Glaucoma. 2010;19(6):391-7.
Attebo K, Mitchell P, Cumming R, Smith W. Knowledge and beliefs about common eye diseases. Aust N Z J Ophthalmol. 1997;25:283-7.
Fraser S, Bunce C, Wormald R. Risk factors for late presentation in chronic glaucoma. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 1999;40:2251-7.
Barkan O. Glaucoma: classification, causes, and surgical control. Results of microgonioscopic research. Am J Ophthalmol. 1938;2:1099-114.
Mahabadi N, Foris LA, Tripathy K. Open Angle Glaucoma. Treasure Island, FL: StatPearls Publishing; 2022.
Distelhorst JS, Hughes GM. Open-angle glaucoma. Am Fam Physician. 2003;67(9):1937-44.
Wolf RC, Klaver CC, Ramrattan RS, an Duijn CM, Hofman A, de Jong PT. Genetic risk of primary open-angle glaucoma. Population-based familial aggregation study. Arch Ophthalmol. 1998;116(12):1640-5.
Tenkir A, Solomon B, Deribew A. Glaucoma awareness among people attending ophthalmic outreach services in Southwestern Ethiopia. BMC Ophthalmol. 2010;10:17.
Livingston PM, McCarty CA, Tylor HR. Knowledge, attitudes, and self care practices associated with age related eye disease in Australia. Br J Ophthalmol. 1988;82:780-5.
Krishnaiah S, Kovai V, Srinivas M, Shamanna BR, Rao GN, Thomas R. Awareness of glaucoma in the rural population of Southern India. Indian J Ophthalmol. 2005;53:205-8the formation of pterion and asterion in south Indian population. Int J Cur Res Rev. 2013;5(9):92-100.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
