Cataract Awareness in Tlogowaru District: The Challenges and Attitude in Rural Community

Introduction: Health promotion and education play a crucial role in reducing preventable blindness and visual impairment in underdeveloped countries. This study aims to evaluate understanding and perspectives of adults regarding cataracts in Tlogowaru (rural area of Malang).

Materials and methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study involving adults aged ≥ 18 years in Tlogowaru rural area using a closed-ended questionnaire adapted from an original article, translated into Indonesian, and validated with a Cronbach’s alpha of > 0.6. Knowledge levels were categorized as poor (< 6) or good (≥ 6) based on the total score of 9. A total of 270 respondents participated in this study.

Results: While 68.5 % of the respondents exhibited good knowledge about cataracts, 59.6 % expressed a contradictory negative attitude towards the condition. Our analysis indicates that fear of pain (59.2 %) and concerns about surgical outcomes (56.6 %) significantly contribute to this negative attitude. Significant associations were found between knowledge and factors such as age (p = 0.003), gender (p = 0.021), education (p = 0.000), and income (p = 0.000).

Conclusion: Our findings highlight the disparity between adequate knowledge and negative attitudes towards cataracts, thus underscoring the need for targeted awareness initiatives to improve perceptions and encourage proactive health behavior.

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