OBJECTIVE: To compare obtained data about cornea donation through a questionnaire applied before and after the realization of an expositive lecture given to health professionals. To identify these professional's knowledge about basic cornea transplant information. To verify their personal reaction towards the procedure. METHODS: A campain was performed using specific audio-visual classes about the cornea transplant's and donation process. These lectures were directed to 115 health professionals: 46 doctors and 69 medical students. For the evaluation a test was created and applied before and after the classes, with a one month break. This test included 10 questions, 7 about cornea transplant's specific information, and the other 3 were about their donation's opinion. RESULTS: The questions about the procedure were corrected 61, 72% at the first application and 77, 70% at the second, answered a month later than the first. At the subjective questions the percentage of professionals that would donate their corneas was 91,5%, increasing to 93% after the classes. In a similar way, the number that would authorize a family's cornea donation changed from 91,5% to 94,4%. When they were asked about previous cornea transplant solicitation, the answer was positive at 4,8% of the tests and increased only to 5,5% after the campain. CONCLUSION: Doctors and medical students are not prepared to deal with the multiple aspects of the cornea transplant procedure. And although needed, isolated actions as informative campains are not enough to change this reality.
Corneal transplantation, Tissue donors; Waiting lists; Health Knowledge, attitudes, practice; Questionnaires
