Objective: This study aimed to establish the clinical characteristics of glaucoma
patients attending eye care facilities in Botswana, and management of glaucoma
among patients who received care in these facilities. The study also aimed to
calculate the number of new diagnoses of glaucoma within the glaucoma service.
Design: A prospective, hospital-based, observational study.
Setting: A multi-centre study was undertaken in government-run eye departments in
Botswana from June to August 2012.
Participants: All patients with a diagnosis of glaucoma attending clinics at 7 study
sites were invited to participate.
Outcome Measures: Examination findings, diagnosis and management were
extracted from individual patient-held medical charts. Sociodemographic
characteristics, patient knowledge and understanding of glaucoma were assessed
through face-to-face interviews. In addition, details of outpatient attendances for
2011 were collected from 21 government-run hospitals.
Results: The majority of the 366 patients interviewed had a diagnosis of primary
glaucoma (86.6%). The diagnoses were mainly made by ophthalmologists (48.6%)
and ophthalmic nurses (44.0%). Many patients (38.5%) had been symptomatic for
over 6 months before visiting an eye clinic. The mean presenting IOP was
28.2mmHg (SD 11.9mmHg). Most follow-up patients (79.2%) had not received
surgery, however many (89.5%) would accept surgery. Only 11.5% of participants
had heard of glaucoma prior to diagnosis. Many participants (35.9%) did not
understand glaucoma after being diagnosed. The majority (94.9%) of living firstdegree
relatives had never been screened. The number of newly diagnosed
glaucoma cases for 2011 in the south of the country was 14.1/100 000;95% CI(12.0–
16.5), in the north it was 16.2/100,000;95% CI(13.8–19.0).