Willingness to donate eyes and its associated factors among adults in Gondar town, North West Ethiopia

BACKGROUND: In Ethiopia, there is a substantial mismatch between need and supply of corneal transplant. Although corneal transplantation service is affected by various factors, willingness to donate eyes is an essential indicator of its availability, accessibility, and acceptability. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the magnitude of willingness to donate eyes and its associated factors, which help to develop appropriate strategies that can address this undersupply and unmet need. METHODS: A community-based cross-sectional survey was conducted on 774 adults who were selected using multistage random sampling in Gondar town, North West, Ethiopia. The data were collected through interviews. RESULTS: In this survey, 774 adults with a median age of 30 ± 14.33 years participated. The proportion of willing to donate eyes was 37.6% [95% CI: 34.3%–41.3%]. It was positively associated with the religious belief of Christianity [AOR = 1.73, 95% CI: 1.08–2.75], having awareness about eye donation [AOR = 1.38, 95% CI: 1.01–1.92], educational level of high school [AOR = 2.90, 95% CI: 1.72–4.90], and College/University [AOR = 2.23, 95% CI: 1.28–3.87]. CONCLUSION: The magnitude of willingness to donate eyes was moderate and positively associated with the higher educational level and awareness. It is, therefore, strategic to plan awareness creation programs to mobilize the community. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (10.1186/s12886-017-0577-1) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.