Knowledge, attitude and practice about eye donation among medical and paramedical students in tertiary eye care hospital

Abstract

Background: Eye sight is very important for human life. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that every 5 seconds someone goes blind. Globally, 37 million people are blind, and of these nearly 10 lakh blind people are willing for corneal transplantation. Aims: The aim of the study was to assess the knowledge, attitude, and practice regarding eye donation among the students. Materials and Methods: The data were collected by the questionnaire method from medical and paramedical students at Al Ameen Medical College, Bijapur. Data collected from the participants were analyzed using percentage and descriptive statistics. Results: Out of the 250 students, 60.4% were Muslim by religion. The participants were wellaware of eye donation (99.2%) quoting media as a major source of information for their knowledge. Attitude regarding eye donation in few (45.6%) was different as it was against their religious belief, although they said it was a service to the mankind (92%). Out of the 250 students, 48% were willing to pledge and 52% students did not believe in pledging their eyes. Conclusion: The findings of the study showed that overall knowledge about eye donation among students was good, however the attitude and practice showed mixed responses.