Effect of Structured Counselling on Glaucoma Screening Consent in a Tertiary Care Ophthalmology Clinic

Background: Glaucoma is one of the major causes of the non-reversible blindness globally, commonly occurring without any symptoms until late stages. Screening during early stages is very important but a lack of awareness and the lack of proper knowledge is the primary obstacle in the way of early diagnosis, especially in the low and middle-income nations. The extent to which awareness is also converted into screening behaviour is not clear even in tertiary care setting. The aim of the study was to determine the extent of awareness and knowledge of glaucoma among adults visiting a tertiary care ophthalmology outpatient department, and to estimate the effect of structured counselling on willingness to screening of glaucoma. Material and Methods: The study was a hospital-based descriptive study that comprised 350 adults aged ≥45 years and the Ist -degree relatives of glaucoma patients. The questionnaire was in form of a structured interviewer-administered questionnaire on glaucoma awareness (Section S1) and glaucoma knowledge (Section S2). The scores of composite awareness and knowledge were obtained. There was a provision of standardized glaucoma counselling after which written consent on screening of glaucoma was taken. The statistics of analysis of data involved descriptive statistics and suitable comparative tests. Results: Thinking (awareness of glaucoma): Only 38.9 percent of the participants were previously aware of glaucoma and objective knowledge levels were moderate (mean knowledge score: 5.18 +- 1.94). The knowledge about glaucoma as the disease without symptoms and irreversible vision loss was so low. After the counselling, the percentage of the respondents who agreed to have their glaucoma screened was 12.6%. An increase in the scores in higher awareness was related to the willingness to be screened but overall compliance was low. Conclusion: As tertiary eye care was available, glaucoma understanding and awareness were still poor and single-session counselling did not produce significant influence on the immediate uptake of screening. More focused education methods and other screening interventions are needed to enhance the prevalence of glaucoma at an early stage.

Keywords: knowledge, screening, counselling, awareness, tertiary care hospital, Glaucoma.