From the Department of Community Medicine, Midnapore Medical College, Medinipur, Paschim Medinipur, West Bengal, India.
Exp Clin Transplant. 2021 Jul;19(7):717-722. doi: 10.6002/ect.2021.0036. Epub 2021 May 6.
This study aimed to assess awareness toward eye donation and the effects of COVID-19 on perceptions about eye donation in an urban community of West Bengal, India.
Eligible adults residing in the area under study were chosen by simple random sampling and interviewed using a predesigned and pretested data collection schedule to assess awareness and perception. Based on their total awareness score, the participants were classified as having good awareness or poor awareness toward eye donation.
Among 423 participants, 52.0% were male, 34.0% were 18 to 30 years old, 38.3% were educated up to secondary level, and 85.6% had eye disease in their family. Of total participants, 70.2% had heard about eye donation, with 59.9% of this group having knowledge of eye donation only after death and 57.9% having knowledge that donation must occur within 6 hours of death. In addition, 52.9% were aware about donation from home, 30.6% said only the cornea is transplantable, and 52.2% knew it can be preserved. Participants with higher education, higher socioeconomic status, and outside of the house occupational engagement had significantly higher chance of good eye donation awareness. Of total participants, 32.0% said that COVID-19 could be transmitted through eye donation, with 58.2% of participants opining that the pandemic was not a suitable time to consider donation of eyes.
COVID-19 has had a negative impact on eye donation perceptions. Although most of our participants had heard about eye donation, their awareness regarding important aspects about eye donation were still lacking, thus calling for a more focused action plan and implementation of the same.
本研究旨在评估印度西孟加拉邦一个城市社区对眼部捐赠的认知度，以及 COVID-19 对人们对眼部捐赠看法的影响。
采用简单随机抽样法选择居住在研究区域内的合格成年人，并使用预先设计和预测试的数据收集表进行访谈，以评估认知度和看法。根据他们的总认知度得分，将参与者分为对眼部捐赠有良好认知或较差认知的两类。
在 423 名参与者中，52.0%为男性，34.0%年龄在 18 至 30 岁之间，38.3%接受过中学教育，85.6%的家庭成员患有眼部疾病。在所有参与者中，70.2%听说过眼部捐赠，其中 59.9%的人仅在死后才了解眼部捐赠，57.9%的人知道捐赠必须在死亡后 6 小时内进行。此外，52.9%的人知道可以在家中进行捐赠，30.6%的人表示只有角膜可移植，52.2%的人知道可以保存。受教育程度较高、社会经济地位较高和从事家庭以外职业的参与者对良好眼部捐赠认知的几率明显更高。在所有参与者中，32.0%的人表示 COVID-19 可能通过眼部捐赠传播，58.2%的人认为大流行期间不是考虑捐献眼睛的合适时机。
COVID-19 对眼部捐赠的看法产生了负面影响。尽管我们的大多数参与者听说过眼部捐赠，但他们对眼部捐赠的重要方面的认识仍然不足，因此需要制定更有针对性的行动计划并加以实施。
