Awareness and Attitudes towards Common Eye Diseases among the General Population of Southern region of Saudi Arabia

Background: Globally, the number of visually impaired persons still increases; this will increase demand for more eye care services, programmes, and treatment for the visually disabled individuals. Consequently, the first step is to map the size of the problem. Detection of the related factors of visual loss and blindness is vital to build appropriate treatment, rehabilitation, and service programmes. Public awareness regarding these eye related health conditions is the first step for mapping the problem and public concern for early detection and management. Methodology: A descriptive cross-sectional survey was conducted focused on all adults in Aseer region. The study was conducted during the period from May 2020 to September 2020. Data were collected using pre-structured online questionnaire established by the researchers after intensive literature review and expert's consultation. The questionnaire data included participants' socio-demographic data, awareness regarding eye diseases was evaluated and its main domains included glaucoma related awareness, cataract awareness, diabetic retinopathy awareness, refractive errors awareness, and eye dryness. Results: A total of 1,014 participants in the southern region of Saudi Arabia completed the survey. Participants' ages ranged from 18 to 75 years with mean age of 33.8 (12.2%) years old. Exactly 641 (63.2%) participants were males. Exactly 23.1% of participants defined cataract as a change in lens colour and 17.8% reported that it is an age related disorder. Glaucoma was defined as a disease that causes optic nerve damage by 22.2% of the participants while 18.6% defined the disease as a condition causing diminished peri-ocular vision. DR was defined as retinal vascular lesion disorder by 23.6% of the participants and 42.9% classified the disease as one of the DM complications. In total, good awareness regarding cataract was detected among 13.4% of the participants and 10% had good awareness regarding glaucoma. Conclusions & recommendations: In conclusion, the study revealed that overall public awareness regarding common eye diseases was very poor especially among the old aged and females. The main source of information was a family member or friend who had the disease.