| Objective:To evaluate the awareness and knowledge of glaucoma among the primary glaucoma patients in Yunnan Province. The factors affecting the awareness and knowledge of glaucoma, the relationship between the awareness and knowledge of glaucoma with medicine compliance, integrated Visual Field and quality of life also were assessed.Methods:The awareness and knowledge of primary glaucoma patients were assessed using a hospital based cross-sectional study design. Ninety-three glaucoma patients attending the First Affiliated Hospital of Kunming Medical University in Yunnan China were recruited consecutively. Fifty-four patients had POAG,26 CPACG and 13 APACG A research assistant interviewed all patients face to face in clinic and recorded demographic factors, awareness of glaucoma, and GOL-15. Complete IOP measurement, visual field test and binocular integrated visual field. Logistic regression analyses evaluated factors associated with awareness and knowledge of glaucoma. Results were expressed as odds ratios (OR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI). Analyze the relationship between the awareness and knowledge of glaucoma and medication compliance, IOP, integrated visual field and quality of life, using one-way ANOVA and chi-square test.Results:1.59.14% of the glaucoma patients knew glaucoma.93.54% of the glaucoma patients received glaucoma information from their eye doctors.2. Younger patients were significantly better informed than older ones (P<0.05). The glaucoma patients, living near the hospital, not being initial diagnosis, and having used anti-glaucoma medications, statistically have more knowledge about glaucoma (P<0.05). Awareness of glaucoma was also significantly less among patients with lower education level (P<0.05), and economically backward patients (P<0.05). Positive family history of glaucoma, times of follow-up and visual field test prior to the survey, and duration of disease were the most significant factors associated with awareness of glaucoma(P<0.05).3. The glaucoma patients who had higher score of the awareness and knowledge of glaucoma, knew the action and side effects of the drugs, would use all the anti-glaucoma drugs on time, and would not decide to stop drug themselves, the difference was statistically significance (P<0.05).4. The higher the score of the awareness and knowledge of glaucoma, the lower the intraocular pressure, GSS stages and GQL-15 score, the difference was statistically significant (P<0.05). The higher the score of the awareness and knowledge of glaucoma, the higher the average decibel value of integrated visual field, the difference was statistically significant (P<0.05). The higher the score of the awareness and knowledge of glaucoma, the more the times of follow-up and visual field test after investigation, the difference was statistically significant (P<0.05).5. The patients who are in the type 1,2,3 of the binocular integrated visual field statistically have more awareness about glaucoma than the patients who are in the type 4,5 of the binocular integrated visual field (P<0.05).6. The POAG patients statistically knew more about glaucoma than the PACG patients (P<0.05).Conclusions:1. Younger patients were better informed than older ones.The patients,who have closer distance to the hospital, longer duration of the disease, higher technical content of vocation, higher education level, higher income, more times of follow-up and visual field test prior to the survey, know more about glaucoma. The glaucoma patients, having family history of glaucoma, not being initial diagnosis, having used anti-glaucoma medications, have more awareness and knowledge of glaucoma.2. The glaucoma patients, who have more awareness and knowledge of glaucoma, have better drug compliance. If the patients improve the awareness and knowledge of glaucoma, especially know more about the action and side effects of the drugs, they can improve the compliance of the drug. If the patients improve the awareness knowledge of glaucoma, they can diagnose the disease more early, increase the rate of follow-up, and have lower IOP.3. If the patients improve the awareness and knowledge of glaucoma, they can slow down the progress of visual field loss, and improve the quality of life. |
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