Gupta Parul Chawla, Duggal Mona, Jamir Limalemla, Sharma Drishti, Kankaria Ankita, Sathyanath Shreyaswi, Kaur Rupinder, Rana Kirtan, Ram Jagat
*Department of Ophthalmology, Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh, India; †Department of Community Medicine, School of Public Health, Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh, India; and ‡Department of Community Medicine, AJ Institute of Medical Sciences, Mangalore, India.
Cornea. 2017 May;36(5):611-616. doi: 10.1097/ICO.0000000000001164.
To assess the knowledge and attitude of school-going adolescents regarding corneal donation in government and private schools in an urban area of Northern India.
A school-based cross-sectional study was conducted in an urban field practice area of Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER), Chandigarh, India. A total of 365 participants of the seventh to 10th grade were enrolled from a government school and a private school. A pretested, semistructured, self-administered, bilingual (English and Hindi) questionnaire was used to assess the sociodemographic profile and knowledge and attitude related to corneal donation.
Most (87%) (confidence interval, 83.1%-90.0%) participants had heard about corneal donation. Only 2% of students answered all the knowledge-related questions correctly. None knew about the national toll-free number for corneal donation. Three-fourth (72%) supported the idea of corneal donation. Of them, only 44% (confidence interval, 41.0-47.1) were willing to pledge to donate their own eyes. Fears and myths were the persistent barriers. The government and private schools differed in both knowledge and attitude, with the latter performing better.
Knowledge among the selected high school children was poor. Although many supported the idea, only a few were willing to donate. We suggest that program components be evaluated from time to time. Future studies should explore the role of strengthening Information Education and Communication (IEC) activities among high school students for motivating community members to pledge to donate for corneal donation.
评估印度北部城市地区政府和私立学校中在校青少年对角膜捐献的认知和态度。
在印度昌迪加尔市医学教育与研究研究生院（PGIMER）的一个城市实地实践区开展了一项基于学校的横断面研究。从一所政府学校和一所私立学校共招募了365名七至十年级的学生。使用一份经过预测试的、半结构化的、自我填写的双语（英语和印地语）问卷来评估社会人口统计学特征以及与角膜捐献相关的认知和态度。
大多数（87%）（置信区间为83.1% - 90.0%）参与者听说过角膜捐献。只有2%的学生正确回答了所有与知识相关的问题。没有人知道角膜捐献的全国免费电话。四分之三（72%）的人支持角膜捐献的想法。其中，只有44%（置信区间为41.0 - 47.1）愿意承诺捐献自己的眼睛。恐惧和误解是持续存在的障碍。政府学校和私立学校在认知和态度方面都存在差异，私立学校表现更好。
所选高中生的认知水平较差。虽然许多人支持这一想法，但只有少数人愿意捐献。我们建议定期评估项目组成部分。未来的研究应探索加强高中生信息教育与传播（IEC）活动在激励社区成员承诺进行角膜捐献方面的作用。
