Mapping the Social Virtue of Youth as a Catalyst in the Dynamics of Eye Donation

Abstract

Background: The dynamics of eye donation and corneal transplantation is a beacon of hope in the life of a corneal blind person for sight restoration. Social virtues like altruism and helping others are reflected in the promotion of organ donation and in the metaphorical reference ‘gift of life’. Youth is not merely a future potential donor, but also a transmitter of eye donation. Aim: The aim of the study was to outline various facets of eye donation among students using KAP model, to explore the role of youth on eye donation and to measure the relationship between the willingness for eye donation and different components of students. Materials and Methods: A questionnaire administrated to 1179 students of Panjab University and its five affiliated colleges in Chandigarh, India. Results: Only 3.5% of respondents were found to have a good level of knowledge regarding the subject. Nearly 21.8% of respondents expressed a positive attitude towards eye donation. There were only 2.6% of respondents who showed a high level of practice. Over 92.6% of respondents indicated that youth could play a positive role in the promotion of eye donation. The socio-demographic variables of the respondents, such as age, gender, and education level had a linear relationship with the level of knowledge, attitude, and practice (P ≤ 0.01). Conclusion: Findings showed a hypothetical relationship between knowledge, attitude and practice in context of eye donation. There was a poor level of knowledge, neutral attitude and low level of practice among students regarding eye donation.