Knowledge and attitude regarding eye donation among undergraduate nursing students of belagavi city: A cross-sectional study

Abstract

Corneal blindness is one of the most common causes of treatable and preventable blindness in India. The only treatment available for corneal blindness is keratoplasty of donor corneas that are obtained through eye donation, upon person's death. The objective of the study was to assess the knowledge and attitude among the undergraduate students of nursing colleges towards eye donation. A descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out among 400 students of different nursing colleges using pretested, self administered questionnaire. Proportionate based random sampling technique was used. Ethical clearance and informed consent were taken from the concerned authority and person. Data was analyzed using appropriate statistical tools in SPSS version 20. It was found that majority of the students (98.5%) had heard about organ donation. 100% students had heard about eye donation but 75.5% students knew that eyes can be donated after death and ideal time of donation was within 6 hours of death. Nearly, more than half (58.5%) students knew that cornea only can be donated which was correct. About 64.25% students were willing to donate their eyes to save vision of blind people. Majority students had average knowledge and attitude and only few students had good knowledge and attitude on eye donation. It was concluded that Nearly, more than half of students had average knowledge and about three quarters of the students had average attitude regarding eye donation.