Glaucoma awareness survey and promoting a culture of eye care.

PURPOSE: Glaucoma is a leading cause of visual impairment in Japan. Because it is often asymptomatic in its early stages, many individuals with glaucoma remain unaware of their condition. To address this, we are promoting eye-care culture (memigaki bunka). As part of this initiative, we conducted a study to assess glaucoma awareness in Japan. STUDY DESIGN: Cross sectional, online panel survey. METHODS: An online survey was conducted in Japan among men and women aged 30-69 years. Participants were stratified into four 10-year age groups (30-39, 40-49, 50-59, and 60-69 years) and by sex, with 100 men and 100 women recruited for each age group in each of the two study regions: (1) the cities of Sendai and Tomiya in Miyagi, and (2) all other 46 Japanese prefectures combined (excluding the 47th prefecture, Miyagi). The total sample comprised 1,600 participants, including 800 residents of Sendai/Tomiya and 800 residents of the remaining 46 prefectures. All participants answered the question: what do you know about glaucoma? using a 5-point Likert scale. RESULTS: Residents of Sendai and Tomiya demonstrated significantly higher glaucoma awareness than those from other regions (p = 0.01). Women showed higher awareness than men (p = 0.03). In a sex-stratified analysis, regional differences were observed among women (p = 0.03) but not among men (p = 0.18). Path analysis revealed that willingness to undergo paid eye examinations was associated with being female, being a driver, having a sense of fear of glaucoma, and understanding glaucoma (p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Glaucoma awareness was relatively higher among participants from Sendai and Tomiya than among participants from the other 46 prefectures. Women demonstrated higher levels of awareness than men. Future public health efforts should focus on improving awareness among men to promote early detection and treatment of glaucoma.