摘要："Introduction: Ocular trauma and corneal ulceration are significant causes of corneal blindness that are often under-reported but may be responsible for 1.5–2.0 million new cases of monocular blindness every year. India is now home to the world's largest number of blind people. Of the 37 million people across the globe who are blind, over 15 million are from India.75% of these are cases of avoidable blindness. India needs 2.5 lakh donated eyes every year, the country's 109 eye banks (five in Delhi) manage to collect a maximum of just 25,000 eyes, 30% of which can't be used. Aim of the study was to evaluate the level of awareness regarding eye donation among OPD patients at a tertiary hospital. Method: We recorded 154 patients presenting to the out-patient department of a tertiary care hospital who were willing to participate in the survey were requested to fill the form and answer 11 questions pertaining to awareness of eye donation. The questions had multiple options and subjects were requested to answer as per their choice. Result: The results showed that 14% responders were not aware about eye donation. Awareness through eye donation campaign was maximum (38%) followed by awareness through mass media (18%). 60% responders were not aware about any eye bank in Madhya Pradesh. 47% responders were not aware that only deceased can donate eyes and not living individuals. 79% responders were not aware that filling of eye donation form by the individual during lifetime is not mandatory for eye donation. 50% responders were aware that only corneal diseases can be cured by corneal transplantation. Conclusion: There is gross lack of awareness about eye donation among outpatient department and their relatives."
关键词：Eye donation; outpatient department; tertiary hospital; central india
