Attitude toward eye donation - A population-based study from Western Uttar Pradesh

ABSTRACT

Background: Corneal blindness is one of the major causes of blindness and vision can be successfully restored by corneal transplantation. Eye donation can improve the availability of cornea, but it depends on awareness and willingness in general population. Objectives: The objectives of this study were to assess the awareness and willingness of urban population of western UP about eye donation and to correlate factors with willingness. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among randomly selected 400 residents >30 years of age of urban field practice area of the Department of Community Medicine, TMMC and RC, Moradabad. Pre-tested structured questionnaire was used to obtain information about the awareness and perception regarding eye donation. Results: Of 400 participants, 75% were aware about eye donation and 25% were ignorant; print and electronic media were the most common source of information. 51.6 % knew about the time limit of eye donation. 63.5% were willing for eye donation; willingness for eye donation was significantly higher in younger age group, males, and well-educated participants. Conclusion: Our study establishes the need to improve the awareness of eye donation in the study population. The most idealist public health approach would be, to reduce the occurrence of vision loss due to corneal diseases, with effective preventive policies, but as a short-term goal, the key way to deal with corneal blindness is to obtain the required number of corneas for transplantation.