DOI: 10.36347/sjams.2015.v03i07.026

Pages: 2561-2567

Glaucoma represents a major public health challenge in ageing population. Glaucoma is the second leading cause of avoidable blindness globally and third cause in India. The aim of the study is to assess the awareness and knowledge of glaucoma in south Indian urban population of Puducherry. 1780 subjects above 30 years were recruited in the cross sectional study of 5 months duration. This study assesses the awareness and knowledge about glaucoma. Respondents to “having heard of glaucoma” were recruited as “aware” and from those who were aware, respondents who had some knowledge were defined as “knowledgeable”. The questionnaire was marked for 10 points and knowledge levels were classified as good, fair and poor. Among the 1780 respondents, a total of 45.45% (CI: 43.13 to 47.76) were aware of glaucoma. Among 5.28% respondents with positive family history, 34.04% people had a good knowledge about glaucoma. Also among the 38.20% respondents with co-morbidity (diabetes or hypertension or both), 28.16% people had good knowledge. Literate subjects had comparatively more knowledge about glaucoma with 27.72% people having good knowledge, 59.24% people with fair knowledge and 13.04% people with poor knowledge. Among illiterates, only 5.26% people had good knowledge, 42.11% had a fair knowledge and 52.63% had a poor knowledge. In a large representative sample of urban population, awareness of glaucoma is not high. Knowledge was good among males, those with higher education and older people. The study stresses the need for awareness among younger population for effective prevention of blindness due to glaucoma.