Awareness and Knowledge of Glaucoma among Health Workers in Butajira General Hospital, South Ethiopia

Abstract

Background: Raising awareness and knowledge of glaucoma is a key means of enhancing people alertness, increasing regular eye screening  practice, and the chance of identifying undetected cases. Health professionals other than ophthalmologists are often the first point of contact when  patients seek medical advice. However, little is known about the awareness and knowledge of glaucoma among health care professionals in  Ethiopia.The objective of this study was to determine general awareness and knowledge of glaucoma among health workers in Butajira General Hospital.

Methods: Hospital-based cross-sectional study was conducted at Butajira Hospital in September and October 2021 among health care providers. All  health workers except those on leave and the staff in the department of Ophthalmology were included in the study. The awareness and knowledge  were assessed using a selfadministered questionnaire. Descriptive statistics was computed to describe the study variable, and logistic regression  was conducted to see associations between dependent and independent variables. Significant associations were declared at p-values <0.05.

Result: This study showed that 184 (91.1%) had an awareness of glaucoma among the study participants, whereas 8.9% had never heard about  glaucoma. Of those who were aware, only 42% have good knowledge.Professionals who had a history of eye examinations and family history of  glaucoma were about 3.0 times more likely to have good knowledge.

Conclusion: Fifty-eight percent of clinical professionals from Butajira Hospital had no awareness at all or had poor knowledge about glaucoma.  Being a physician, history of eye examinations, and having a family history of glaucoma were factors related to glaucoma knowledge.