Socio-Demographic Factors Associated With Loss Of Visual Acuity In Glaucoma Patients At Initial Presentation In Benin City, Nigeria

Abstract

The study was designed to identify the sociodemographic factors, which significantly affect the visual acuity of glaucoma patients at presentation. It is a prospective study of 154 new patients with a diagnosis of primary open angle glaucoma seen over 1 year and 8 months at the eye clinic of the University of Benin Teaching Hospital, Benin City, Nigeria. The patients were analysed in the context of gender, age, geographical abode, educational status, occupation and monthly income. The visual acuity was determined using the Snellen's chart. The mean age was 52.73 years (SD ± 15.98) and male to female ratio was 2.1:1. Thirty-eight patients (24.7%) were blind with visual acuity less than 3/60 at presentation. The factors found to be significantly associated with poor visual acuity at presentation were older age patients (P<0.05), low educational status (P<0.05), low socioeconomic status (P<0.01) and low monthly income (P<0.05). Gender and geographical abode were not significantly associated with visual acuity at presentation. Late presentation in glaucoma can be reduced by alleviation of poverty, educating the people and improving their socioeconomic status.

Keywords: Factors, visual acuity, presentation

Annals of Biomedical Science Vol. 4 (1) 2005: pp. 7-15