AIM: To evaluate the prevalence of glaucoma, treatment patterns and patient attitudes in Ethiopia. METHODS: A survey was administered to glaucoma patients in hospitals in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. RESULTS: Of the 415 qualified patients, exfoliative glaucoma (17%) was most commonly found in the Gurage population(33%), whereas chronic angle-closure glaucoma (5%) was found in the Amhara/Tigre (6%) population (P =0.006). Patients were treated with an average of 1.4±0.8 medications: 52% admitted recent noncompliance and 36% had undergone filtering surgery. Patients believed their physician was trying to help them (93%). God wanted them to receive treatment (89%) and their spouse was sympathetic to their disease (82%). Patients noted their community was unaware of their condition (87%) with Muslims [most common in the Gurage population (31%, P <0.0001)] reporting this the most(25%,P =0.01).Amhara/Tigre patients strongly believed their doctors were concerned about them (94%, P = 0.04). CONCLUSION: The prevalence of glaucoma type varies among ethnic groups in Ethiopia with exfoliation more common in the Gurage population and chronic angle-closure glaucoma more frequent in the Amhara/Tigre population.