Knowledge and attitude toward eye donation among adults, Northwest Ethiopia: A community-based, cross-sectional study

Abstract

BACKGROUND:In developing countries, the leading cause of childhood blindness is corneal scarring. Although the service of corneal transplantation depends on several factors, availability of potential donors is of paramount importance. Attitude of eligible donors is the main factor that affects corneal supply. However, limited data exist on eye donation. Hence, this study intended to assess the knowledge and attitude toward eye donation and its associated factors.SUBJECTS AND METHODS:A community-based, cross-sectional study was conducted on 760 adults aged ≥18 years selected using multistage systematic random sampling in Gondar town, Northwest Ethiopia. A face-to-face structured questionnaire interview in home-to-home visit was applied to collect the data. Descriptive and analytical tests were performed. A binary logistic regression was fitted. Those variables with P < 0.05 were considered statistically significant.RESULTS:This study comprised 760 adults with a median age of 30 years. The proportion of overall level of good knowledge and favorable attitude toward eye donation was 8.4% and 59.9%, respectively. It has been also recognized that attitude was positively associated with educational level of high school (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] = 2.41, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.41–4.14) and college/university (AOR = 2.73, 95% CI: 1.53–4.89) and awareness (AOR = 1.50, 95% CI: 1.05–2.03).CONCLUSIONS:Although the overall level of knowledge about eye donation was poor, the proportion of favorable attitude toward eye donation was fair. Since it was associated with educational level and awareness, it is strategic to follow multidisciplinary approaches to facilitate multi-stakeholder partnerships and to motivate the people to donate their eyes.

Knowledge and Attitude Regarding Eye Donation among Students of Kathmandu University School of Management; A Cross-Sectional Online Survey

“…Similarly study result supported that A communitybased, cross-sectional study was conducted on 760 adults in Gondar town, Northwest Ethiopia shows that 59.9% had good attitude and 40.1% had poor attitude regarding eye donation. 17 Similarly descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out among 400 students of nursing college of Belagavi city India showed that 14.25% had poor Attitude, 71.75% had average and 14% had good Attitude about eye donation 32 .…”

Knowledge, awareness and attitude of eye donation among non-clinical staff of a tertiary eye hospital in South India

“…[ 5 16 19 24 ] Studies from outside India also reported the identical cause. [ 15 17 21 25 ] Saudi Arabia had the highest percentage of 82% that reported deformity as the cause for not pledging eye donation, although the study group comprised of medical and non-medical professionals. [ 20 ]…”

“…However, in the majority of Indian and international studies, the main source of information was the mass media (TV, radio, newspaper, social media). [ 9 11 14 16 17 18 22 23 24 27 28 30 31 32 ] Only Priyadarshini et al . [ 13 ] cited publicity campaign (40.86%) as the primary source.…”

“…[ 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 ] Many population-based cross-sectional studies among rural and urban adults have also been published to assess the knowledge and attitude toward eye donation. [ 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 ] One study from Australia specifically reported the unwillingness of adults to donate eyes who visited the RTA office to renew their driving license,[ 21 ] while another study from Ghana reported on the awareness and attitude of drivers and staff of the Driver-Vehicle and licensing Authority. [ 22 ] There is only one recently published article which documented the Awareness, knowledge and perception of non-clinical staff of an eye hospital in Amritsar regarding eye donation.…”

Prevalence and Predictors of Knowledge and Attitudes Toward Eye Donation Among the General Population: A Systematic Review

“…Similarly, knowledge of eye donation has been reported to vary from 2.9% 14 to 60%. 15 Eye donation knowledge, such as the process of donation as to who to contact, legal issues including the need for additional consent from the next of kin, 16 optimal timing for donation, criteria for a donation, and contact with an eye bank, is crucial to increasing eye donation rates. 2,9,17 Inadequate knowledge of these aspects of eye donation could contribute to the failure to donate eyes within the narrow donation time frame which can range from 6 hours 14,16 to 24 hours.…”