Kishore Surwase
Resident, Department of Community Medicine, MIMSR Medical College, Latur
(MS) INDIA.
Received 21 August
2011; Revised 24 August 2011; Accepted 30 August 2011
Academic Editor:
Dr.
Jadhav V A
Corneal diseases constitute a significant cause of visual impairment and
blindness in the developing world. The number of corneal transplants
done is far less than the actual requirement in India. This is largely
due to the inadequate number of corneas collected. Young polytechnic
students could be expected to influence eye donation rates in community.
Aims: To assess the awareness of 400 polytechnic students towards eye
donation.. Settings and Design: Cross-sectional study design. Materials
and Methods: A pretested, semi-structured questionnaire. Statistical
Analysis Used: Data were analyzed using the Epi-Info software package,
Version 6.04. Results: The majority (89.7%) of students knew that eyes
can be donated after death but only 7.7% knew that the ideal time of
donation was within 6 hours of death. Most participants (85.1%) were
willing to donate their eyes. Nobility in the act of eye donation was
the main motivational force for eye donation according to 92.6% of
students. Perceived reasons for not pledging eyes by the students were:
the unacceptable idea of separating the eyes from the body (60.8%), lack
of awareness (49.8%), objection by family members (28.5%), and
unsuitability to donate because of health problem (10.7%).Conclusion:
This study revealed that polytechnic students were well aware of eye
donations and most of them were inclined to sign-up for eye donation.
The perceived reasons for not donating eyes need to be considered while
creating awareness about eye donation in the community.
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