Awareness and knowledge of glaucoma and associated factors among adults: a cross sectional study in Gondar Town, Northwest Ethiopia.

BACKGROUND: Raising public awareness and knowledge about glaucoma is a key for early case identification and prevention of blindness. However, awareness and knowledge about glaucoma is unknown at community level, making provision of interventions difficult. This study was intended to assess the awareness and knowledge of adults about glaucoma and the factors affecting it in Gondar town, Northwest Ethiopia. METHODS: Community based cross - sectional study was conducted on 701 adults 35 and above years in Gondar from April 12-30, 2016. Multistage sampling technique was used to select study participants. Interviewer administered pretested structured questionnaire was used to collect data after verbal informed consent. Data were entered into EpiData version 3.1 and analyzed by Statistical Package for Social Sciences version 20. Bivariate and multivariate logistic regression models and Odds ratio with 95% interval were used to identify factors. P-value <0.05 was considered statistically significant. RESULTS: Seven hundred one adults age 35 and above years were participated with a response rate of 99.3%. The male to female ratio was 1:1.6 with median age of 48 years with interqurtile range of 20. The proportion of awareness was 35.1% (95% CI: 31.5%, 38.6%). Good knowledge was demonstrated in 49.6% (95%CI: 43.3%, 55%) of glaucoma aware participants. Education (primary [AOR: 3.21; 1.73, 5.95], secondary [AOR: 4.34; 2.30, 8.22]; college and above [AOR: 9.82; 4.27, 22.60]) and having eye examination [AOR: 2.78; 1.86, 4.15] were positively associated with awareness of glaucoma whereas older age (65 -74 years [AOR: 0.31(0.21, 0.76]) was inversely related. Level of Education (primary[AOR:2.83;1.04,7.71],secondary[AOR:3.45;1.33,9.41],college and above [AOR: 4.86;1.82,12,99] and having eye examination [AOR: 2.61;1.53,4.45] were significantly associated with knowledge. CONCLUSION: The study has indicated higher level of awareness and knowledge about glaucoma in urban communities than previous studies. It has also identified educational status, eye examination at least once in life are related with better awareness and knowledge. The present awareness and knowledge should be enhanced through public oriented glaucoma education via mass media and incorporating eye check up as a routine in older people.

Willingness to donate eyes and its associated factors among adults in Gondar town, North West Ethiopia.

BACKGROUND: In Ethiopia, there is a substantial mismatch between need and supply of corneal transplant. Although corneal transplantation service is affected by various factors, willingness to donate eyes is an essential indicator of its availability, accessibility, and acceptability. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the magnitude of willingness to donate eyes and its associated factors, which help to develop appropriate strategies that can address this undersupply and unmet need. METHODS: A community-based cross-sectional survey was conducted on 774 adults who were selected using multistage random sampling in Gondar town, North West, Ethiopia. The data were collected through interviews. RESULTS: In this survey, 774 adults with a median age of 30 ± 14.33 years participated. The proportion of willing to donate eyes was 37.6% [95% CI: 34.3%-41.3%]. It was positively associated with the religious belief of Christianity [AOR = 1.73, 95% CI: 1.08-2.75], having awareness about eye donation [AOR = 1.38, 95% CI: 1.01-1.92], educational level of high school [AOR = 2.90, 95% CI: 1.72-4.90], and College/University [AOR = 2.23, 95% CI: 1.28-3.87]. CONCLUSION: The magnitude of willingness to donate eyes was moderate and positively associated with the higher educational level and awareness. It is, therefore, strategic to plan awareness creation programs to mobilize the community.

Visual outcome of cataract surgery at Gondar University Hospital Tertiary Eye Care and Training Center, North West Ethiopia.

BACKGROUND: Globally, cataract is the leading cause of blindness which accounts for 51% of 39 million blind people. The visual rehabilitation is made through sight-restoring surgery. The patients' postoperative visual satisfaction, vision related quality of life, ability to function in daily activities and their overall productivity mainly depend on the visual outcome. However, there are limited data on the visual outcome and its associated factors in the study area. Therefore, this study intended to evaluate the postoperative level of visual acuity to provide a baseline information regarding visual outcome and design a standardized protocol to maximize it. METHODS AND MATERIALS: A hospital-based cross-sectional study was conducted at the Gondar University Hospital Tertiary Eye Care and Training Center on 223 patients who underwent cataract surgery, selected using simple random technique from April to June 2015. RESULTS: This study consisted of 218 patients or eyes that underwent cataract surgery. The median age of the participants was 65 years with an interquartile range of 20 years. Of 218 cataract-operated visually impaired eyes (<6/60), 26.6% of them achieved good visual acuity (≥6/18), 28.9% of them had borderline acuity (<6/18-6/60), and the remaining of 44.5% were remained as poor visual acuity (<6/60). It has been observed that the postoperative visual acuity had an association with postoperative follow up time duration (P=0.035). CONCLUSION: In this study, the visual outcome of cataract surgery was significantly low as compared to World Health Organization's recommendations, and it has been recognized that there is significant progression of visual acuity in different consecutive weeks.