Awareness regarding eye donation among staff of a tertiary eye care hospital in North India

Impact of an educational video in improving awareness of eye donation among non-medical health care workers in a tertiary health centre

PURPOSE

To evaluate the impact of an educational video in improving awareness of eye donation among non-medical healthcare workers at a tertiary health centre.

METHODS

A socio-behavioural study on knowledge and attitude towards eye donation was conducted among 373 non-medical healthcare workers through a printed semi-structured questionnaire before and after viewing a bilingual educational video. The responses were evaluated and scored.

RESULTS

Pre-intervention, only 5.4% of the participants had adequate knowledge, which improved significantly to 71.6% after watching the video (P < .001). Respondents with elementary school education showed the greatest change in knowledge. Pre-intervention, 72.4% were willing to donate their eyes, which significantly increased to 89.5% after watching the video. Pre-intervention, 66.22% showed a "highly favourable" attitude, which improved to 97.86% after watching the video.

CONCLUSION

The 25 min video about eye donation and eye banking significantly changed the participants' knowledge, willingness, and attitude. Hence, media-based (video) awareness platforms may be valuable for improving the general public's knowledge and attitude towards eye donation. This may help in enhancing the eye donation rate in the long term.

Knowledge and Attitudes toward Cornea Donation among Different Social Groups in Poland

BACKGROUND

Limited access to corneal tissue for transplantation remains a challenge in many parts of the world. To date, little attention has been paid to the problem of the cornea donor shortage in Poland, where the number of waiting patients exceeds the number of transplants performed three-fold. The aim of this study was to assess the knowledge and willingness towards participating in corneal donation among different social groups in Poland.

METHODS

This prospective, cross-sectional study was conducted among health professionals, medical students, clerics, teachers, journalists, employees and patients of the District Railway Hospital in Katowice. Online and paper questionnaires were used to collect socio-demographic data and information regarding awareness of, knowledge about and attitudes toward corneal donation. For health professionals and medical students, the questionnaires contained additional questions concerning knowledge and solutions for expanding the donor pool. Descriptive analysis and associations were evaluated using the chi² test.

RESULTS

In the survey, 1026 participants took part, including 370 (36.06%, group 1) health professionals and 656 (63.94%, group 2) participants from a non-medical field. A total of 330 (89.18%) from group 1 and 528 (80.49%) respondents from group 2 expressed willingness to donate their corneas. The main reason for refusal of donation in both groups was a lack of knowledge concerning eye donation (7.8%). A social campaign (64.6%) was the most frequently chosen solution for increasing the number of potential donors by health professionals and medical students. In the group of doctors, not knowing how to report a potential donor was chosen as the greatest source of difficulty in donor reporting (40%).

CONCLUSIONS

In the present study, the willingness to donate one's eyes was substantial in both groups. Social campaigns and improving knowledge concerning the donor reporting process among health professionals might be beneficial in expanding the donor pool.