Glaucoma awareness among people attending ophthalmic outreach services in Southwestern Ethiopia

BACKGROUND: Individuals may need to be aware of glaucoma and seek assessment regularly in order to diagnose the condition early. Awareness of glaucoma has not been previously documented in an Ethiopian setting. OBJECTIVE: The main aim of this study was to assess the level of awareness of glaucoma among people attending outreach ophthalmic services. METHODS: We conducted a cross-sectional survey in April 2009 of all people 40 years of age or older who presented during a two-week outreach service period in Agaro town, southwestern Ethiopia. Data on demographics and awareness of glaucoma were collected through face to face interview using a pretested structured questionnaire. RESULTS: 340 people participated in the study. Their mean age was 54.5 (SD 10.6) years. About 43% were illiterates and 37.6% were farmers. Only eight people (2.4%) were aware of glaucoma. The association between awareness and attaining high school or better education was statistically significant (p < 0.0001). CONCLUSION: Awareness of glaucoma in this population is very low. An efficient information, education and communication (IEC) strategy needs to be designed to increase knowledge of the community about glaucoma so that early diagnosis and treatment of individuals with this condition may be possible.