Economic burden of glaucoma in Rivers State, Nigeria

Adedayo O Adio,1 Alfred A Onua21University Of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital, 2Braithwaite Memorial Specialist Hospital, Port Harcourt, Rivers State, NigeriaBackground: Primary open angle glaucoma is reported to blind 150,000 people in the Nigerian population and over 7000 in Rivers State, and requ...

Descripción completa

Guardado en:

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales:	Adio AO, Onua AA
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Dove Medical Press 2012
Materias:	Ophthalmology RE1-994
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/b30562c45537420f96cecf71fcbc372b
Etiquetas:	Agregar Etiqueta Sin Etiquetas, Sea el primero en etiquetar este registro!

id	oai:doaj.org-article:b30562c45537420f96cecf71fcbc372b
record_format	dspace
spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:b30562c45537420f96cecf71fcbc372b2021-12-02T07:14:53ZEconomic burden of glaucoma in Rivers State, Nigeria1177-54671177-5483https://doaj.org/article/b30562c45537420f96cecf71fcbc372b2012-12-01T00:00:00Zhttp://www.dovepress.com/economic-burden-of-glaucoma-in-rivers-state-nigeria-a11681https://doaj.org/toc/1177-5467https://doaj.org/toc/1177-5483Adedayo O Adio,1 Alfred A Onua21University Of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital, 2Braithwaite Memorial Specialist Hospital, Port Harcourt, Rivers State, NigeriaBackground: Primary open angle glaucoma is reported to blind 150,000 people in the Nigerian population and over 7000 in Rivers State, and requires constant follow-up. Compliance is a challenge, given that most inhabitants live below the poverty line. This study was performed to determine how Nigerian patients are affected economically by the disease.Methods: Consecutive adult patients attending the eye clinic of the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital, Rivers State, Nigeria, with a diagnosis of primary open angle glaucoma and on outpatient antiglaucoma treatment in the first 6 months of 2006, were recruited for the study. The lowest paid government worker was on USD50 (N7500.00) per month and the gross domestic product per capita was USD1150 for the period under review.Results: We enrolled 120 consecutive patients of mean age 52.7 &plusmn; 10.4 years, with a male to female ratio of 2:3. The most common occupations were in the civil service (n = 56, 46.7%). All participants were on topical antiglaucoma treatment. The average cost of medical antiglaucoma medication was N6000 (USD40) per month. Computed to include indirect costs, including medical laboratory tests, transportation, and care by patient escorts, an average sum of USD105.4 (N15,810) was spent by each patient per month. Most of the patients (73.3%) were responsible for their own treatment costs. No patient accepted the cheaper option of surgery (USD275.4, N41,310). Eighty of the patients (66.7%) visited our eye clinic monthly. Direct and indirect loss to the economy was USD3,064587 per annum from those already blind. This was in addition to the USD 4.1 million being spent yearly on medical treatment by those who were visually impaired by glaucoma.Conclusion: Middle-income earners spent over 50% of their monthly income and low-income earners spend all their monthly earnings on treatment for glaucoma. This situation often resulted in noncompliance with treatment and hospital follow-up visits. To reduce the economic burden of glaucoma, trabeculectomy performed by experienced surgeons should be offered as first-line treatment for glaucoma in this country, rather than medical therapy.Keywords: economic burden, chronic glaucoma, blindness, Rivers State, NigeriaAdio AOOnua AADove Medical PressarticleOphthalmologyRE1-994ENClinical Ophthalmology, Vol 2012, Iss default, Pp 2023-2031 (2012)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Ophthalmology RE1-994
spellingShingle	Ophthalmology RE1-994 Adio AO Onua AA Economic burden of glaucoma in Rivers State, Nigeria
description	Adedayo O Adio,1 Alfred A Onua21University Of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital, 2Braithwaite Memorial Specialist Hospital, Port Harcourt, Rivers State, NigeriaBackground: Primary open angle glaucoma is reported to blind 150,000 people in the Nigerian population and over 7000 in Rivers State, and requires constant follow-up. Compliance is a challenge, given that most inhabitants live below the poverty line. This study was performed to determine how Nigerian patients are affected economically by the disease.Methods: Consecutive adult patients attending the eye clinic of the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital, Rivers State, Nigeria, with a diagnosis of primary open angle glaucoma and on outpatient antiglaucoma treatment in the first 6 months of 2006, were recruited for the study. The lowest paid government worker was on USD50 (N7500.00) per month and the gross domestic product per capita was USD1150 for the period under review.Results: We enrolled 120 consecutive patients of mean age 52.7 &plusmn; 10.4 years, with a male to female ratio of 2:3. The most common occupations were in the civil service (n = 56, 46.7%). All participants were on topical antiglaucoma treatment. The average cost of medical antiglaucoma medication was N6000 (USD40) per month. Computed to include indirect costs, including medical laboratory tests, transportation, and care by patient escorts, an average sum of USD105.4 (N15,810) was spent by each patient per month. Most of the patients (73.3%) were responsible for their own treatment costs. No patient accepted the cheaper option of surgery (USD275.4, N41,310). Eighty of the patients (66.7%) visited our eye clinic monthly. Direct and indirect loss to the economy was USD3,064587 per annum from those already blind. This was in addition to the USD 4.1 million being spent yearly on medical treatment by those who were visually impaired by glaucoma.Conclusion: Middle-income earners spent over 50% of their monthly income and low-income earners spend all their monthly earnings on treatment for glaucoma. This situation often resulted in noncompliance with treatment and hospital follow-up visits. To reduce the economic burden of glaucoma, trabeculectomy performed by experienced surgeons should be offered as first-line treatment for glaucoma in this country, rather than medical therapy.Keywords: economic burden, chronic glaucoma, blindness, Rivers State, Nigeria
format	article
author	Adio AO Onua AA
author_facet	Adio AO Onua AA
author_sort	Adio AO
title	Economic burden of glaucoma in Rivers State, Nigeria
title_short	Economic burden of glaucoma in Rivers State, Nigeria
title_full	Economic burden of glaucoma in Rivers State, Nigeria
title_fullStr	Economic burden of glaucoma in Rivers State, Nigeria
title_full_unstemmed	Economic burden of glaucoma in Rivers State, Nigeria
title_sort	economic burden of glaucoma in rivers state, nigeria
publisher	Dove Medical Press
publishDate	2012
url	https://doaj.org/article/b30562c45537420f96cecf71fcbc372b
work_keys_str_mv	AT adioao economicburdenofglaucomainriversstatenigeria AT onuaaa economicburdenofglaucomainriversstatenigeria
_version_	1718399534935048192

Economic burden of glaucoma in Rivers State, Nigeria

Ejemplares similares