A cross sectional study on awareness about eye donation among the students of a selected degree college and their willingness to pledge eyes for donation

A cross sectional study on awareness about eye donation among the students of a selected degree college and their willingness to pledge eyes for donation. Shwetha NC.1*, Achappa S.2, Deeksha BM.3 DOI: https://doi.org/10.17511/jooo.2021.i01.02 1* Shwetha NC, Assistant Professor, Department of Ophthalmology, Dr Chandramma Dayananda Sagar Institute of Medical Education and Research, Ramanagara, Karnataka, India. 2 Santosh Achappa, Associate Professor, Department of Community Medicine, Dr Chandramma Dayananda Sagar Institute of Medical Education and Research, Ramanagara, Karnataka, India. 3 Deeksha BM, MBBS.


Introduction
Giving someone the gift of sight and letting them see the world through eye donation is truly a divine deed for a noble cause. Due to lack of awareness, eye donation has not got its due importance in our country [1]. According to World Health Organization

Results
Out of 211students, 198 (94%) had heard about eye donation. Among the 198 students, 56 (28%) were males and 142 (72%) were females. Age varied from 18 to 21 years. The mean age of the students was 19.35 ± 0.73 years.
The correct responses of the students on questions regarding eye donation is shown in Table 1.
With respect to study stream 143 (72%) students were from Bachelor of Commerce (B.COM), 46 (23%) from Bachelor of Computer Applications (BCA) and 9 (4.5%) students were from Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA).  Similar response was seen in a study by Nekar et al., [2012] among the college students of Hubli city. [12] In the present study 69% of the students opined that there is shortage of donors in India. In a study by Kumari R [2016] among the life sciences students [13] 85% of the students believed that there is a shortage of donors in India. When asked whether living person can donate eyes, 35% of study participants answered "yes with consent" but the majority rightly said no accounting for 55%.
Whereas in the study by Bhole P et al., [10] 61% responded that eyes can be donated before death.
Ideal time to remove eyes after death is within six hours, which was known to 71% of the students in the present study. Similarly in the study by Bhole P.et al., [10] 75% students knew the ideal time for removal of eyes but in a study among nursing students by Gupta A et al., [14] only 38% of the participants were aware of the ideal time for procurement of eyes.
When participants were asked about the part of the eye that is taken from the donor in the present study, 21% of the participants believed whole eye is taken and 23% of the participants opined only black part of the eye (cornea) is taken. Both were considered as right answers. When participants were questioned about the part of the eye that is transplanted, 56% of the participants correctly answered only cornea is transplanted whereas in a study by Gupta A et al. [2009] among students of a nursing college in Bangalore [14] 74% of the students knew that donated eyes are used for corneal grafting but in a study by Nekar et al [12] 33% of the participants knew that cornea is used in transplantation and 62% thought whole eye is transplanted.
On asking about preserving the retrieved eyes, 41% of our participants felt eyes should be preserved in the eye bank. In a study from kommula et al.
[ In the present study 84% of the respondents had not registered for eye donation, similarly 93% of the respondents had not registered in the study by Bhole P et al. [10] In the present study, we wanted to know the willingness of the students to pledge eyes for donation and the responses are tabulated in Table 2.
Majority of the students of the students were ready to pledge (59%), 22% of the study participants needed time to decide, 14% needed consent from family and ten students (05%) were not willing to donate eyes and in a study by Nekar et.al [12]

Recommendations
Along with studies on health care professionals and students, more studies need to be conducted among the students from non-medical background as well.

Awareness programs are important in a society
where taboos or religious beliefs can form a barrier for eye donation.

Dr Santosh Achappa: Study design, Data Analysis
Dr Deeksha BM: Data collection