Cornea, Cataract and Refractive Surgery, Dr. Shroff's Charity Eye Hospital, New Delhi, India.
Eye Bank Services, Dr. Shroff's Charity Eye Hospital, New Delhi, India.
Indian J Ophthalmol. 2019 Oct;67(10):1570-1574. doi: 10.4103/ijo.IJO_2151_18.
To understand trends, awareness, influences and barriers to eye donation in Indian society.
This cross sectional study was conducted in Delhi from March 2017 to February 2018. About 10 hospitals collaborated with the Eye Bank under Human Cornea Retrieval Program (HCRP). Eye Bank recruited Eye Donation Counselors (EDCs) to approach family members of the deceased. A pretested questionnaire was used for this study. Irrespective of whether the next of kin of the deceased consented for eye donation or not, the option of participating in the survey was given.
Out of 473 potential donors identified, 407 (86%) next of kin consented to participate in the study. Of these, 388 (95.3%) were males and 19 (4.7%) were females. About 168 (41%) consented for eye donation and were assigned to donor group, while 239 (59%) participants refused eye donation and were assigned to non-donor group. Majority of the participants were siblings 170 (41.8%) of the deceased and the mean age of the deceased was 42.71 ± 17.56 years. The foremost concern before decision-making was transparency in how the cornea would be used (32.25%). The concern with regards to whether the body would remain intact after eye donation significantly decreased the probability of consent for eye donation.
The study highlights that barriers to eye donation in India are not cultural or religious but more due to misinformation and proper utilization of the donated tissue. This study also emphasizes the pivotal role of EDC's in facilitating the eye donation movement.
了解印度社会中眼捐献的趋势、意识、影响因素和障碍。
本横断面研究于 2017 年 3 月至 2018 年 2 月在德里进行。大约 10 家医院与人角膜获取计划（HCRP）下的眼库合作。眼库招募眼捐献顾问（EDC）来接触死者的家属。本研究使用了经过预测试的问卷。无论死者的近亲是否同意捐献眼睛，都可以选择参与调查。
在确定的 473 名潜在供体中，有 407 名（86%）近亲同意参与研究。其中，388 名（95.3%）为男性，19 名（4.7%）为女性。约 168 名（41%）同意捐献眼睛并被分配到捐献组，而 239 名（59%）参与者拒绝捐献眼睛并被分配到非捐献组。大多数参与者是死者的兄弟姐妹 170 人（41.8%），死者的平均年龄为 42.71 ± 17.56 岁。在做出决策之前，首要关注的是角膜将如何使用的透明度（32.25%）。对捐献眼睛后身体是否保持完整的担忧，显著降低了同意捐献眼睛的概率。
本研究表明，印度眼捐献的障碍不是文化或宗教方面的，而是更多地由于信息错误和捐献组织的正确利用。本研究还强调了 EDC 在促进眼捐献运动方面的关键作用。
