“A study of knowledge, attitude and practice patterns regarding eye donation, eye banking and corneal transplantation in tertiary care hospital”

Abstract

The aim of the study is to assess the knowledge, attitude and practice patterns regarding eye donation, eye banking and corneal transplantation in patients attending the outpatient department of a tertiary care hospital. This cross-sectional study/survey was carried out at the Department of Ophthalmology of a tertiary care medical college hospital. The study included 380 participants who were at least 18 years old and willing to take part. A total of 39.5% of the study participants believed there is an age limit for eye donation while around 70% of the participants responded that a history of cataract/glaucoma is a contraindication for donating eyes while 17.1% of them responded that eye donation was against their religious belief. Still, 292(76.8%) people pledged to donate their eyes. Our survey found that 86.3% of participants were aware of eye donation. The fact that doctors were the main source of information on eye donation shows how important their job is. Amongst society average knowledge was present regarding eye donation. Moreover, two-thirds of the patients expressed their willingness and commitment to donate their eyes. Although the awareness level regarding eye donation and the pledge rate is high, still there is a significant information gap about the donation as well as the eye bank.