Awareness about post-mortem eye donation among students of the Syrian Private University

Background: Eye donation (corneal donation) is the process of screening a corneal donor, recovering the corneal tissue, and preparing it for transplant. People who benefit from corneal donation are those who suffer from corneal blindness. This study aims at assessing the awareness of eye donation among students of the Syrian Private University of various faculties and their readiness for post-mortem eye donation Methods A student-based cross-sectional study was conducted in faculties of the Syrian Private University. A total of 538 students between the ages of 18 and 36 were selected. After obtaining informed written consent, knowledge regarding eye donation was assessed through a pre-designed closed questionnaire. The questionnaire was drafted to understand the sociodemographic factors that influence the desire to donate and the awareness of eye donation in this category of community members. Results The mean age of the participants was 21.48 ± 2.45 years. 61% of the participants were females while 39% were males. 75% of the participants heard of eye donation. 65% were aware of post-mortem eye donation. 39% of the participants knew that there is a certain age for eye donation, and 85% believed that corneal diseases can lead to blindness. 303 students knew that Keratoplasty is performed in Syria while 235 students didn’t know. 36% of the participants wanted to donate eyes after death, while 64% refused. The branch of the study was an important determining factor in terms of knowing eye donation, as the largest percentage of students who wanted to donate eyes after death were from the faculty of medicine (P = 0.0144). Conclusion Despite the relatively good knowledge and awareness ratios among students, they were among the students of the medical branches, which indicates the lack of knowledge and awareness about the donation of eyes among the students of the rest of the faculties, which calls for a rethinking of ways to raise knowledge and awareness among all students in different branches of study.