To Assess the Awareness and Knowledge about Glaucoma in Patients Attending Ophthalmology OPD of a Tertiary Care Hospital

Abstract

BACKGROUND
 Glaucoma is characterized by the progressive and irreversible loss of vision due to damage to the optic nerve. If left untreated it can lead to complete blindness. The management of glaucoma involves controlling the disease process to minimize the damage to the optic nerve, an essential part of which is early diagnosis and early treatment. The symptoms develop so slowly that unless the patient is aware and has knowledge about the disease, its early diagnosis is very difficult. Heightened public awareness about glaucoma may increase the chance of identifying undetected cases early. We wanted to assess the awareness and knowledge about glaucoma in patients coming to ophthalmology OPD of a tertiary care hospital in this study.
 METHODS
 This was a cross-sectional study conducted for one month among patients aged 18 years and above. A total of 205 patients were randomly selected from the ophthalmology OPD. A questionnaire was given to each patient and the responses were noted. Based on the responses given by the patients for each question, scores were given, and a conclusion was drawn. It was cross analysed with the patient’s demographic data.
 RESULTS
 Among the subjects, 109 (53.17 %) were males and 96 (46.8 %) were females. Out of 205 subjects, only 144 (70.2 %) subjects had heard of the term glaucoma. There were statistically significant differences between different age groups and their awareness of glaucoma (P < 0.001). Yet only 33.9 % had accurate knowledge of the disease.
 CONCLUSIONS
 Awareness and knowledge of glaucoma are low. An efficient strategy needs to be designed to increase the awareness and knowledge levels of glaucoma.