EVALUATION OF COMMUNITY EYE OUTREACH PROGRAMME FOR EARLY GLAUCOMA DETECTION IN SOUTH WEST NIGERIA

Abstract

Glaucoma describes a group of eye diseases in which there is progressive damage to the optic nerve, leading to impaired vision and possibly blindness if untreated. Glaucoma is the commonest cause of irreversible blindness worldwide, and in Nigeria. It is known that the prevalence of glaucoma is highest in West Africa. This study aims to evaluate the relevance of community outreach program in early case detection of glaucoma patients in South West Nigeria. This is a retrospective, comparative, cross- sectional study with descriptive and analytical components. This study was conducted among glaucoma patients who presented to the Eye clinic of the University College Hospital (UCH) between January 2004 and December 2005 before the onset of the community outreach programs and those who presented to the same hospital between January 2009 and December 2010 after the onset of the community outreach program. A total of 990 patients were studied in both periods. In the post outreach period, the mean age was 56.3 ± 16.6 and a median age of 60. ln the pre-outreach period however the mean age was 58.9 ± 15.8 and a median age of 60. (p value< 0.03). Patients referred from the outreach were about two times more likely to have mild to moderate disease than patients referred from other sources (Cl= 1.3-2.8, p<0.001). Patients seen in the post outreach period were more likely to be glaucoma suspects (p<0.001). Community eye outreach is useful in the early detection of glaucoma in developing countries. Patients referred from the outreach were more likely to have earlier diseases.