Awareness and care journey of Glaucoma patients attending three referral hospitals in South-East Nigeria: Implications for public health intervention.

INTRODUCTION

Glaucoma, the primary cause of permanent blindness, occurs frequently, progresses aggressively, and more challenging to treat among Blacks. In South-East Nigeria, Igbos who have ancestral ties to blacks in the Barbados eye study are more likely to have primary open-angle glaucoma and are at risk of blindness. This study aims to evaluate glaucoma patients' awareness, care-seeking pathway and identify policy areas for planning and advocacy.

METHOD: This cross-sectional survey was performed at three referral ophthalmology facilities. 303 eligible and consented participants were enrolled. Data collected with semi-structured researcher-administered questionnaire were imported into Stata v15.0. Charts and maps were used for descriptive percentages and proportions. At p-value < 0.05, statistically significant risks were determined using multiple logistic regression models.

RESULTS

Over half of the participants (56.6%; 87/151) who had heard of glaucoma before diagnosis were early presenters. Social interactions between friends and family (57%), mass media-radio, television and print (31%) and internet (4%) were the three most common ways that participants learned about glaucoma. Fifty-one percent who presented late had been previously screened for glaucoma; a greater percentage of them spent more time visiting a spiritual home, optical store, or traditional healer compared to those who presented earlier. Basic literacy (0.18: CI 0.07-0.47) and the ability to pay rent (0.52: CI 0.31 - 0.91) were socio-economic factors independently associated with lower odds of presenting late to the glaucoma referral facility.

CONCLUSION

Glaucoma awareness was linked to early presentation, although delays persist due to reliance on non-medical providers. Predictors of timely presentation suggest that socioeconomic empowerment may be a crucial lever for improving glaucoma health-seeking behaviour.