Awareness and attitude regarding eye donation among undergraduate students of an engineering institution and its implication in Tamil Nadu

Abstract

Corneal blindness is estimated to be the second most prevailing cause of blindness in developing nations. Visual rehabilitation by corneal transplantation is the main choice for the restoration of vision in these cases. The corneal transplant success relies on the availability of high-quality donor eyes. At present, there is a gap between the demand and supply of donor corneal tissues in the developing world. Our study aims to assess the awareness and willingness to eye donation among undergraduate students, especially those from a non-medical background. A single-center, cross-sectional study was conducted on engineering undergraduate students studying in a reputed Multi-disciplinary Institution, located in rural Tamil Nadu during the period August 2018 to March 2019 (8 months). Using random sampling, 507 students were selected for the study. A structured questionnaire was administered to all the participants. For statistical analysis, SPSS software, version 22, was used. A total of 507 students participated in the study. The mean age of participants was 19 ± 2 years. In the study group, more than half (499) of the students had awareness about “eye donation,” but only 62.2% of students were willing to donate eyes. Among the study participants, 74% showed a poor attitude toward eye donation. Lack of knowledge regarding the process of eye donation was seen as the major cause attributing to this poor attitude. We conclude that if more intensive awareness program activities are carried out to make the younger generation, making them more aware of the process of eye donation, we can significantly increase the rate of eye donation in India.