A cross sectional study to assess awareness and attitude on eye donation among college going students of Jhalawar, Rajasthan

Abstract

Background: Eye sight is very important for human life. The WHO estimates that for every 5 seconds someone goes blind. According to the Eye Bank Association of India, approximately 1.1 million people are corneal blind in India. College students can play important role for creating awareness about eye donation and breaking myths in society, there is no such research in Jhalawar region on this subject. Aim and objectives were to assess awareness related to eye donation among collegiate students, to know attitude regarding eye donation and to provide information with motivation for eye donation. Methods: A cross sectional analytical study was conducted on UG students studying in professional colleges of Jhalarapatan block, Jhalawar, Rajasthan. A pretested and semi-structured questionnaire with informed consent was administrated among all participants. The questionnaire consisted of 21 questions related to eye donation ranging from the source of information about eye donation, corneal transplantation, eye donors, criteria for eye donors, knowledge of eye banks, attitude regarding eye donation etc. Results: All participants (246) have idea of eye donation but medical students have good awareness (84%) compared to nursing (46%), engineering (31.1%) and academic students (26.9%) respectively. Mass media created good awareness (43.6%) while friend/close relative created least (4.7%). Conclusions: Students who were part of medical/nursing education because of their close association with this activity have better opportunity for creating awareness in community compare to academic students. Mass media had an important role in creating eye donation awareness among society.