Prevalence and clinical profile of glaucoma patients in rural Nigeria—A hospital based study

Abstract

Purpose To determine the prevalence and clinical presentation of participants with glaucoma attending a public eye care facility in Nigeria. Method Hospital based retrospective study of glaucoma participants aged 50 years and above seen over a 5-year period. Descriptive statistics summarized the demographic, clinical characteristics and treatment of the participants and determined the association of variables with gender and age. Prevalence of the glaucoma by type, and their 95% confidence intervals (CI) were also calculated. Result Of the 5482 case files that were reviewed, 995 (18.15%, 95% Cl 17.15–19.19%) had glaucoma particularly primary open angle glaucoma (11.55%, 95%CI 10.73–12.42%) and were mostly females (564, 56.7%) aged 69 ± 12 years (range, 50–103 years). In contrast to other glaucoma types, the prevalence of primary angle closure glaucoma (3.68, 95%CI 3.22–4.22) increased by 15% over 5 years. The mean intraocular pressure ranged from 15–50 mmHg but higher in females than males (27.8 ± 6.1mmHg versus 26.6 ± 6.0 mmHg, P <0.05) who had comparable VA (0.58 ± 0.4 Log MAR) and cup-disc ratios (P >0.05). On presentation, the glaucoma hemi field test (GHFT) was outside the normal limits in 45.5% and 54.5% of males and females, respectively. The type of visual field defect was associated with glaucoma type (P = 0.047). Arcuate scotoma was most common (35.5%) across glaucoma types, paracentral scotoma more common in Secondary glaucoma while Seidel scotoma was highest in NTG (19.3%). Beta-blocker was the mainstay of management (42.2%) but more likely to be prescribed to males while more females received carbonic anhydrase inhibitors. Conclusions The high prevalence of glaucoma in older people remains a public health problem in Nigeria. The fact that about half of the participants presented with visual field defect suggests there is a need for public health messages to emphasize on early glaucoma screening, detection and management.

Visual Impairment and Blindness among Patients at Nigeria Army Eye Centre, Bonny Cantonment Lagos, Nigeria

“…Most causes of VI in the current study are preventable, as evidenced by cataract and refractive error being recorded as the major causes of VI. Similar findings were recorded in Nigeria [ 10 ] and Zimbabwe [ 26 ]. The need for continuous eye health education and the the promotion of the importance of regular screenings to prevent avoidable blindness in Lagos State is highly indicated.…”

“…Visually impasired people make up more than 90% of the population in developing nations and are 50 years and above [ 8 ]. Age, religion, and ethnicity were associated with VI [ 4 , 10 ].…”

“…The prevalence of blindness and VI in Nigeria were reported to be 6.1% and 4.2%, respectively [ 12 ], which was significantly higher than reported globally [ 5 ]. Studies [ 10 , 12 , 14 , 15 ] conducted in different parts of Nigeria indicated that the prevalence of blindness and VI is highest in the north–east (8.2% and 6.9%) and lowest in the south–west (2.8% and 3.3%) part of Nigeria.…”

Prevalence of glaucoma types, clinical profile and disease severity at presentation: Tertiary Institute based cross-sectional study from South India

“…The proportion of glaucoma subjects in our glaucoma service seems higher (45%) compared to other hospital-based studies in Nigeria (18.2%),[ 18 ] Ethiopia (26%),[ 19 ] and Ghana[ 20 ] and lesser than that reported by Das et al . [ 21 ] from the north of India (70%).…”

“…This was in accordance with the other hospital-based study by Khandelwal et al . [ 22 ] in India and reports from Nigeria,[ 18 ] Ghana,[ 23 ] and Ethiopia. [ 19 ]…”