Knowledge and attitudes toward corneal donation among Singaporean youth: a cross-sectional study

BACKGROUND: To assess the knowledge of Singaporean youth regarding corneal donation and gauge their willingness to donate their corneas. METHODS: We conducted a cross-sectional study among 500 students from five tertiary institutions in Singapore. All students answered self-administered questionnaires which included seven questions that tested knowledge and three questions that determined willingness to donate corneas. RESULTS: Among 500 Singaporean youth aged 18 to 25, most students (73.2 %) answered 3 or fewer of the 7 questions about corneal donation correctly. With regards to the willingness to donate, 155 (31 %) were willing to donate their corneas, 111 (22.2 %) were not willing to donate their corneas, and 234 (46.8 %) were undecided. Willingness to donate corneas was associated with an older age group (21 to 25 years old), those who are non-Muslims, and have good basic knowledge. Particularly, students with good basic knowledge were 1.71 times more likely to willingly donate their corneas. CONCLUSION: The knowledge of the Singaporean youth regarding corneal donation and transplantation is poor. Since insufficient information was cited as the most common reason for being undecided in regards to corneal donation, specific and tailored programs to increase knowledge and awareness are needed to convince the youth to support corneal donation. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s40662-016-0049-3) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.