KNOWLEDGE ABOUT CATARACT AND ITS ASSOCIATED FACTORS AMONG ADULTS IN GONDAR TOWN, NORTHWEST ETHIOPIA

Abstract

Abstract Background: Cataract is the leading cause of blindness worldwide, which accounts about half of the global blindness. It is the most effectively treatable condition if timely intervention initiated. It is conceived that knowledge about the nature of the disease, its risk factors and treatment options play a significant role in overcoming this major public health problem. However, there is limited information about level of knowledge regarding cataract in this study area. Hence, this study aimed to assess the general knowledge of adults regarding cataract and factors behind it. Objective: The main objective of this study was to assess knowledge regarding cataract and its associated factors among adults in Gondar town northwest Ethiopia. Methods: A community based cross sectional study was conducted, on 836 adults, using multistage random sampling technique, in Gondar town North West Ethiopia from April15May7,

2017 with a sample size of 845. Data was collected using pre tested structured questionnaires through face to face interview. The collected data was entered to Epi info 3.5.1 and exported to SPSS version 20. Binary logistic regression was used to identify associated factors. And those variables with p value <0.05 in multivariable logistic regression were considered as statistically significant. Result: In this study, 836 adult participants were participated, which represents a response rate of 98.9%. The median age of participants was 28 years with inter quartile range of 17. Of the total participants, 67.2% (95%CI, 63.8-70.2) of them had awareness about cataract. Among 562 participants, 61.7 % of them had good knowledge about cataract (95% CI, 57.566.00)

and it was positively associated with higher level of education (AOR=2.86, 95%CI: 1.37-5.96), higher family monthly income(AOR=1.92, 95%CI: 1.03-3.57), having previous eye examination(AOR=1.53, 95%CI:1.02-2.31) and positive family history of cataract(AOR=1.76, 95%CI: 1.03-3.01). Conclusion and recommendation: In this study, about three-fifth of the participants had good knowledge about cataract and it was positively associated with higher level of education, higher family monthly income, having previous eye examination and positive family history of cataract. Even if this magnitude of knowledge is encouraging, further effort need to exerted to improve it. Key words: Cataract, Knowledge, Gondar, Ethiopia