title: Knowledge and awareness of age related eye diseases: a population-based survey.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To determine general awareness and knowledge about cataracts, glaucoma and diabetic retinopathy (DR), as common avoidable causes of blindness in an Iranian population.
  
  
  METHODS
  This cross-sectional population-based survey was performed on residents over 45 years of age in Tehran. The sampling frame was the list of all landline phone numbers registered by the Telecommunications Center of Iran, through which systematic random sampling was performed. Data was collected by phone-call interviews and completing a semi-structured questionnaire. Awareness was defined as whether the respondent had ever heard of the disease. Knowledge was assessed by realizing different aspects of each disease.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of a total of 1,084 eligible people including 574 (52.9%) women and 510 (47.1%) men were included and 957 subjects (response rate, 88.3%) completed the interview. Awareness regarding glaucoma, cataract and DR was 46.6% (95% confidence interval [CI]:43.4 -49.8%), 82.9% (95% CI: 80.5 -85.3%) and 86.2% (95% CI: 84-88.4%). In addition, 19.2% (95% CI: 16.7 -21.7%), 57.3% (95% CI: 54.2-60.4%) and 72% (95% CI: 69.2 -74.8%) of respondents could give at least a basic definition of the mentioned diseases, respectively. Only 22.6% (95% CI: 20-25.2%) and 41.6% (95% CI: 38.5-44.7%) realized glaucoma and DR as a treatable condition; in contrast, 77.2% (95% CI: 74.5-79.9%) categorized cataract as treatable. Only 19% and 7.1% knew that DR and glaucoma may commence without any apparent symptoms.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Compared with cataract and DR, most participants had limited information about glaucoma. In addition, few of the respondents were familiar with the initial symptoms of DR and glaucoma.
authors.affiliation: Ophthalmic Epidemiology and Prevention of Blindness Center, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Marzieh
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Katibeh
authors.affiliation: Ophthalmic Research Center, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Hossein
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ziaei
authors.affiliation: Ophthalmic Research Center, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Elnaz
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Panah
authors.affiliation: Ophthalmic Research Center, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Hamid-Reza
authors.initials: HR
authors.lastname: Moein
authors.affiliation: Ophthalmic Research Center, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Sara
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hosseini
authors.affiliation: Ophthalmic Research Center, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Masumeh
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kalantarion
authors.affiliation: Ophthalmic Research Center, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Armen
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Eskandari
authors.affiliation: Ophthalmic Research Center, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran ; Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Mehdi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yaseri
keywords: Cataract; Diabetic Retinopathy; Glaucoma; Health Education; Public Health