Abstract

Background: Glaucoma is a leading cause of irreversible blindness worldwide. Ignorance and poverty are known factors for late presentation. Early diagnosis and treatment are indispensable tools in curbing the menace of visual impairment from glaucoma. The Rivers State branch of the Ophthalmological Society of Nigeria (OSN) creates awareness and undertakes screening of the populace for glaucoma during World Glaucoma Weeks observed annually. The aim of this study is to compare the socio-demographics of participants, the yield of glaucoma patients during the case finding exercises and the most effective public awareness campaign method. 

Materials and Method: Cross-sectional survey of 173 clients presenting for glaucoma screening in 2018 and 2019 World Glaucoma Weeks at the ophthalmology clinic of the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital. Socio-demographic characteristics, pattern of referral, medium of awareness, educational status and occupation of the study-participants were obtained and analyzed.

 Results: One hundred and three participants were females. The mean age of the study participants was 39.3 ± 14.6 years. Age group (40 - 49 years) had the highest proportion of participants (25.4%). The yield was 7.5%. Forty participants in 2018 were informed of the glaucoma screening exercise by first-degree relatives. In the 2019 edition, 73 (42.2%) of the clients were referred through radio while 50 (28.9%) were referred through posters.

Conclusion: The yield of glaucoma cases was 7.5%. Our study shows that dissemination of information related to glaucoma to members of the public could be better via first degree relatives, radio announcements and posters displayed at strategic locations. 

Keywords: Awareness; Screening for Glaucoma; World Glaucoma Week

References

1. Adekoya BJ., et al. “Glaucoma in southwest Nigeria: clinical presentation, family history and perceptions”. International Ophthalmology 34 (2014): 1027-1036.
2. Enock ME., et al. “Glaucoma in a Suburban Tertiary Care Hospital in Nigeria”. Journal of Ophthalmic and Vision Research 5.2 (2010): 87-91.
3. Omoti AE. “Glaucoma in Benin-city, Nigeria”. Nigerian Postgraduate Medical Journal 12 (2005): 189-192. 
4. World Glaucoma association. Screening for open angle glaucoma. 
5. Kreft D., et al. “Prevalence, incidence, and risk factors of primary open-angle glaucoma- a cohort study based on longitudinaldata from a German public health insurance”. BMC Public Health 19 (2019): 51. 
6. Merzel C. “Gender differences in health care access indicators in an urban, low-income economy”. American Journal of Public Health 90.6 (2000): 909-916. 
7. Vajaranant TS., et al. “Joslin CE”. Current Opinion in Ophthalmology 21.2 (2010): 91-99. 
8. Guedes G., et al. “Glaucoma and aging”. Current Aging Science 4.2 (2011): 110-117.
9. Song YJ., et al. “Comparison of glaucoma patients referred by glaucoma screening versus referral from primary eye clinic”. PLoS ONE 14.1 (2019): e0210582.
10. Al-Aswad LA., et al. “Screening for glaucoma in populations at high risk: The eye screening of New York project”. Journal Cogent Medicine (2017): 4. 
11. Awoyesuku EA and Chukwuka IO. “Is community based case detection of glaucoma relevant? Intraocular Pressure level and vertical cup disc ratioof participants at a screening programme in a rural setting in Nigeria”. Journal of Clinical and Experimental Ophthalmology 2 (2018): 022-026. 
12. Olushola O., et al. Spectrum of Glaucoma presentation in Suburban Teaching Hospital in South Western Nigeria. 
13. Olawoye O., et al. “Evaluation of community eye outreach programs for early glaucoma detection in Nigeria”. Clinical Ophthalmology 7 (2013): 1753.
14. Kizor-Akariwe NN., et al. “Awareness and Knowledge about glaucoma and proportion of people with glaucoma in an urban outreach programme in Southeast Nigeria”. BMJ Open Ophthalmology 1.1 (2017): e000018. 
15. Rewri P., et al. “Role of MassCommunication and Health Care in promoting Glaucoma awareness: An Observational study”. Delhi Journal of Ophthalmology 18 (2018): 36-39. 
16. Nathaniel GI and Awoyesuku EA. “Opportunistic screening for Glaucoma amongst Glaucoma patients first degree relatives who accompanied them to Glaucoma clinic”. International Annals of Medicine 1.4 (2017): 3.

Citation

Citation: AA Onua and EA Awoyesuku. “World Glaucoma Week in Port Harcourt: Comparison of Yield and Public Awareness of Glaucoma Services in two Consecutive Years”. Acta Scientific Ophthalmology 3.3 (2020): 52-56.

Copyright

Copyright: © 2020 AA Onua and EA Awoyesuku. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.