Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2014 Apr-Jun;21(2):165-9.
doi: 10.4103/0974-9233.129769.

Awareness of and Attitude towards glaucoma among an adult rural population of Osun State, Southwest Nigeria

Michaeline A Isawumi  1 , Mustapha B Hassan  1 , Patience O Akinwusi  2 , Olalekan W Adebimpe  3 , Esther O Asekun-Olarinmoye  3 , Alebiosu C Christopher  2 , Taiwo A Adewole  4
Affiliations

Awareness of and Attitude towards glaucoma among an adult rural population of Osun State, Southwest Nigeria

Michaeline A Isawumi et al. Middle East Afr J Ophthalmol. 2014 Apr-Jun.

Abstract

Purpose: To obtain baseline data and assess the level of awareness and attitudes towards glaucoma among rural communities of Osun State, Nigeria.

Materials and methods: This was a community-based study that involved interviews and descriptive cross-sectional analysis. Serial-recruitment was performed of consenting participants who presented at a community-based screening service in March 2011. Socio-demographic data and information about glaucoma were obtained through face-to-face semi-structured questionnaires.

Results: The study population comprised 259 respondents (mean age 49.73 ± 16.6 years; range 18 to 90 years). There were 159 females (61.4%). Skilled workers were the most common 130/259 (50.3%) participants. Only 41 (15.8%; 95% CI: 11.4-20.2) participants had ever heard of glaucoma. Sources of information were from visits to an eye clinic for 21/41 (51.2%; 95% CI: 35.9-66.5) participants and 15/41 (36.6%) participants who know someone with glaucoma. Reponses to the causes of glaucoma included 20/41 (48.8%; 33.5-64.1) participant who said 'I don't know' and 24.4% of participants who responded 'curse-from-God'. Responses to questions on treatment included 20/41 (48.8%) participants who responded 'I don't know how it can be treated' and 10/41 (36.6%) said 'medically'. Thirty 30/41 (73.2%) participants would refuse surgery, half of them because 'it cannot cure or reverse the disease' while (26.7%) would refuse out of 'fear'. Only 8/41 (19.5%; 95% CI: 7.4-31.6) would accept surgery for maintenance. Statistically significant predictors of glaucoma awareness were older participants, males and skilled workers (teachers) (P = 0.028, P = 0.018, P = 0.0001, respectively).

Conclusions: The outcomes of study indicate a low level of awareness of glaucoma. Health education at all levels of health and eye care services is required to prevent ocular morbidity and irreversible blindness from glaucoma.

Keywords: Adults; Attitudes; Awareness; Glaucoma; Rural.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of Interest: None declared.

References

    1. Singapore: American Academy of Ophthalmology; 2011. The basic and clinical science course. Section 10, 2011-2012 Glaucoma; p. 3.
    1. Resnikoff S, Pascolini D, Etya’ale D, Kocur I, Pararajasegaram R, Pokharel GP, et al. Global data on visual impairment in the year 2002. Bull World Health Organ. 2004;82:844–51. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Abdull MM, Sivasubramaniam S, Murthy GV, Gilbert C, Abubakar T, Ezelum C, et al. Causes of blindness and visual impairment in Nigeria: The Nigeria national blindness and visual impairment survey. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 2009;50:4114–20. - PubMed
    1. Entekume G, Patel J, Sivasubramaniam S, Gilbert CE, Ezelum CC, Murthy GV, et al. Prevalence, causes, and risk factors for functional low vision in Nigeria: Results from the national survey of blindness and visual impairment. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 2011;52:6714–9. - PubMed
    1. Robin AL, Nirmalan PK, Krishnadas R, Ramakrishnan R, Katz J, Tielsch J, et al. The utilization of eye care services by persons with glaucoma in rural South India. Trans Am Ophthalmol Soc. 2004;102:47–54. - PMC - PubMed