Glaucoma in southwest Nigeria: clinical presentation, family history and perceptions

Knowledge of the presentation pattern of glaucoma helps in providing more understanding of the disease, leading to better control. The aim of this study was to determine the presentation pattern among newly diagnosed glaucoma patients in Lagos, Nigeria. This was a multicenter cross-sectional survey of newly diagnosed glaucoma patients, recruited over a four-week period. Socio-demographic characteristics, presenting history, awareness and perception on glaucoma, and basic examination findings were obtained. A total of 208 patients, including 90 (43.2 %) females with a mean age of 53.9 years were recruited. One hundred and forty-three (68.7 %) were self-referred patients with a mean duration of symptoms of 2.6 years. Fifty-five (26.4 %) patients gave a history of glaucoma in at least one family member. Ninety-five patients (45.7 %) were aware that glaucoma can cause visual loss, but 69 (72.6 %) out of these believed the visual loss is reversible. Seventy (33.7 %) patients had been previously diagnosed with glaucoma elsewhere. From the 208 patients, 35.5 % had visual impairment (presenting visual acuity [VA] of <6/18 in the better eye), while 15.5 % were blind (presenting VA in better eye <3/60). Lack of glaucoma awareness, positive family history and illiteracy were associated with late presentation of glaucoma. Late presentation is still a major concern among glaucoma patients in Southwest Nigeria, and there is a need to intensify present efforts aimed at increasing public awareness, emphasising the irreversible nature of the disease, as well as encouraging at-risk groups such as first-degree relatives to go for screening.