Journal of Clinical and Experimental Ophthalmology
Open Access

Abstract

Impact of Health Education Programs on Awareness of Glaucoma in a Tertiary Care Hospital in South India

Subashini Kaliaperumal, Niruban Ganesan and Bhuvaneshwari Kadirvel

Objective: To assess the impact of health education programs on the awareness and knowledge of glaucoma among subjects attending the Ophthalmology office in a tertiary care hospital in Puducherry.
Methods: It is a cross sectional study with 1000 subjects of age >40 years attending the Ophthalmology outpatient department. A questionnaire was administered in English/Tamil to assess the awareness (heard about glaucoma) and knowledge (understanding the disease and risk factors) about glaucoma. Glaucoma awareness programs are being conducted in our hospital and in Puducherry since 2010.
Results: The awareness about glaucoma was found to be 41%. Majority of the people who were aware of glaucoma had a good level of knowledge (56.8%).
Conclusion: Our study concluded increase in awareness of glaucoma among the people attending the outpatient department post awareness programs. But the awareness was still less than that of cataract and diabetic retinopathy.