EVALUATION OF AWARENESS AND KNOWLEDGE ABOUT GLAUCOMA AMONG PEOPLE ATTENDING TERTIARY HEALTHCARE REFERRAL CENTRE

Background: Awareness regarding glaucoma is essential as it is a silent disease which can result in irreversible vision loss. Our objective is to evaluate level of awareness and to find the reasons for poor awareness in population and thereby aid in appropriate policy making to diagnosis early to decrease the burden of blindness. Materials and Methods: In this cross-sectional study, we interviewed 350 subjects above 15 years with the help of a structured validated questionnaire at a tertiary eye care centre in western India. Collected data was analysed and a conclusive table was derived by giving 1 mark each for selected questions, thus dividing awareness into 3 grades-poor (0-5 points), moderate (6-10 points) and excellent (11-14 points). Results: Among the interviewed, only 3.15% were found to have excellent awareness regarding glaucoma and 22.28 % and 74.57% of them had moderate and poor knowledge respectively. Awareness was directly associated with better education and higher socioeconomic class. Only 30% participants knew about the blinding nature of the disease. The main sources of information were family, friends, relatives and handouts. Conclusion: The study has indicated poor level of glaucoma awareness and knowledge among people visiting a tertiary centre. It has also identified a higher level of education to be associated with better level of awareness. The present level of glaucoma awareness and knowledge needs to be enhanced through application of these inferences in various policy decisions such as provision of health education and by incorporating glaucoma education into curriculums.