The impact of an information brochure on the willingness to donate corneas

Abstract

Introduction: When the transparency of the cornea is compromised and all conservative, surgical, or alternative medical interventions prove ineffective, corneal transplantation emerges as the sole therapeutic option. The likelihood of procuring corneas rises when an individual registers as an organ or cornea donor with a transplant organization, particularly if the family is informed or made aware of this intention. This holds true in both opt-in and soft opt-out transplant systems, where the family’s decision significantly influences the outcome. Given that brochures are widely accepted as effective health education tools, there’s a pressing need to evaluate various informational/educational brochures aimed at enhancing public readiness to donate corneas.
Aim: The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of an information/ educational brochure on the willingness of the public to donate corneas. Materials and methods: A longitudinal study of within-group design was conducted, from May 2022 to January 2023. The research took place in Greece, mainly in the Attiki region, in the community. The conduct of the study was in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). The study participants, 91 non-health professionals/students from the community, first gave their consent, in writing, after being informed of the details of the research project. For data collection, a self-administered questionnaire with closed-ended questions was used. Following the initial administration of the questionnaire (the pretest one),
members of the research team gave participants a brochure on corneal donation, kindly recommending that they read/study it. After one to five days, participants were approached again by the researchers and asked to complete a questionnaire again (the posttest one), but this time with one question, the question about their attitude towards corneal donation.
For inferential statistical analysis, the McNemar-Bowker statistical test was used to compare the difference in the percentages of each attitude towards corneal donation before and after the intervention. Results: Regarding sociodemographic characteristics, 54.4% of the respondents were male, 43.5% were aged between 36 and 45 years, 53.8% were unmarried, 34.8% had only a BSc degree, and 44.0% were employed. In terms of cornea donor characteristics, 27.5% of respondents were willing to be a cornea donor before the brochure intervention and 50.0% after the intervention. The percentage of study participants willing to become a cornea donor before the brochure intervention in a sample of 91 individuals was significantly different from the percentage willing to become a cornea donor after the intervention (27.5% -25/91- versus 49.5% -45/91-, p<0.001). Conclusions: Community health educators, physicians and nurses could use brochures as a cost-effective and efficient means of increasing public awareness of corneal and other solid organ donation.