Abstract
Background According to the WHO, glaucoma is the second leading cause of blindness worldwide. About 50% of the world's glaucoma cases come from the Asian population, and in Malaysia itself, the prevalence of glaucoma is increasing. However, glaucoma is still a foreign word to our community despite the high prevalence. Therefore, there is an urgent need to determine the awareness of glaucoma among the community and its associated factors. Results This study showed that only 25.2% of our respondents were aware of glaucoma and it is associated with ethnicity, religion, education, and household income. Besides, among those who were aware, they fall into the group of poor knowledge of glaucoma. On the other hand, the knowledge of glaucoma was associated with occupation and the awareness of glaucoma by definition. The validated questionnaire was distributed and the data were analyzed by SPSS software using t-test, one-way ANOVA, and chi-square test. Conclusion Awareness and knowledge of glaucoma in this population is low. These findings suggest that there is a need for an efficient information and education strategy to be designed and conducted to increase the awareness and knowledge of glaucoma so that early detection can be made and effective management of individuals with this condition can be delivered.
Highlights
Glaucoma is defined as a group of ocular disorders that involves progressively damaged optic nerve and characterized by peripheral loss of vision [1]
WHO has reported that glaucoma is the second leading cause of blindness worldwide [3]. e increasing trend of prevalence of glaucoma has become a worrisome issue in Malaysia especially when 50% of the world’s glaucoma cases come from the Asian population [4]
P value 0.008 0.632 0.046 e strength of this study is that it is the first study on glaucoma awareness and knowledge among the public in Malaysia and it is the first study that determines the association between awareness of glaucoma by term or definition with knowledge of glaucoma. e findings of this study provide a baseline on awareness and knowledge of glaucoma among the community in Malaysia. us, this study implication can be used for future planning of early detection and management of glaucoma
Summary
About 50% of the world’s glaucoma cases come from the Asian population, and in Malaysia itself, the prevalence of glaucoma is increasing. Is study showed that only 25.2% of our respondents were aware of glaucoma and it is associated with ethnicity, religion, education, and household income. Among those who were aware, they fall into the group of poor knowledge of glaucoma. Ese findings suggest that there is a need for an efficient information and education strategy to be designed and conducted to increase the awareness and knowledge of glaucoma so that early detection can be made and effective management of individuals with this condition can be delivered Awareness and knowledge of glaucoma in this population is low. ese findings suggest that there is a need for an efficient information and education strategy to be designed and conducted to increase the awareness and knowledge of glaucoma so that early detection can be made and effective management of individuals with this condition can be delivered
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