Health Workers Awareness and Knowledge of Glaucoma in Tertiary Hospital in Birnin Kebbi, Nigeria

Abstract

Background: Glaucoma is an important public health problem. Number one causes of irreversible blindness and second causes of blindness worldwide.  Glaucoma progresses slowly with few or no noticeable symptoms in the early stage thus many patients present in advanced stage at first hospital visitation. Glaucoma-related blindness is only avoidable with early detection and treatment, it is imperative to find asymptomatic individuals in the target population. Public awareness and knowledge of glaucoma play important role in preventing blindness and improve quality of life of glaucoma patients. Aim: To know the level of awareness and knowledge of glaucoma among health workers in a tertiary hospital in North-western Nigeria. Methods and Materials: A cross-sectional study conducted during glaucoma week in 2016 among health workers in Federal Medical Birnin Kebbi, Kebbi State using self-administered questionnaires, asking about socio-demographic characteristics, awareness and knowledge of glaucoma. The data was analyzed by SPSS Version 20. Results: A total of 268 health workers participated. The mean age of respondents was 36 years (SD 7.9). The age range was between 19years-60years. The majority 93(34.7%) were in age group of 34yrs-41yrs There were 151 (56.3%) males with M:F 1.3:1.  Most 114 (42.5%) of respondents were nurses, and 204 (76.1%) of the hospital workers had heard about glaucoma. The glaucoma awareness was high among the clinical staff and participants with high the level of education (p=0.000). The level of glaucoma knowledge was best in the clinical staff than non-clinical (p=0.000). And higher numbers 202 (75.4%) of the workers believed that glaucoma causes irreversible blindness while 156 (58.2%) were aware that glaucoma could be inherited. The hospital seminars/lectures was a major source of information on glaucoma. Conclusion: The overall level of glaucoma awareness and knowledge were high among clinical health workers with a high level of education. The hospital seminars/lectures was a major source of information on glaucoma.