Knowledge and Attitude on Eye Donation Among Medical and Nursing Students in a Tertiary Care Centre in Western India

Background Corneal blindness poses a significant public health concern in India. Penetrating keratoplasty stands out as the most efficient and frequently conducted solid organ transplantation procedure, providing significant potential for visual rehabilitation in affected patients, but its broad application continues to be impeded by the limited availability of donor corneas. The low rate of eye donation has been attributed to both the reluctance of potential donors to pledge their eyes and the inadequate efforts by healthcare workers to educate the public about the eye donation process, signifying the need to assess the knowledge and attitude about eye donation among medical and nursing students. Purpose This study aimed to assess the knowledge and attitude about eye donation among medical and nursing students in a tertiary care centre in Western India. Methodology In this cross-sectional, descriptive study, 500 medical and nursing students were selected as participants by convenience sampling. Knowledge and attitude were assessed regarding eye donation by using a self-designed, pre-validated questionnaire, which contained 13 questions (eight in the knowledge domain and five in the attitude domain). Descriptive statistics were used to elaborate on the participants' demographic characteristics. The categorical variable was measured in percentage while the continuous variable was conveyed as mean ± SD. A p-value <0.05 was considered statistically significant. All analysis was performed using IBM SPSS Statistics for Windows, version 20. Results Out of 500 participants who completed the questionnaire, 204 (40.8%) were male and 296 (59.2%) were female. It was seen that 47 participants (9.4%) had excellent knowledge (score > 6), 355 participants (71%) had good knowledge (score 4-6), and 98 participants (19.6%) had poor knowledge (score < 4) about eye donation. Only 245 participants (49%) were willing to donate their eyes. Conclusion There is a need to impart knowledge and modify attitudes about eye donation among medical and nursing students since they will be playing a major role in educating and motivating potential donors regarding eye donation. Mass education and awareness programs are also needed to encourage the attitude of a family as a unit since many of the participants were hesitant to donate because of a lack of support from family.