Awareness, Motivation, and Barrier of Blood Donation among Adults in Puncak Alam

Abstract

Background: In Malaysia and other countries, the availability of blood products is closely linked to the number of individuals who volunteer to donate blood. However, the capacity usage of blood nowadays is very demanding and has raised concern for many health facilities as the blood supply is below the reserve target. Objective: This study aimed to determine the relationship between the level of awareness, motivation, and barriers to blood donation among adults in Puncak Alam, Selangor. Methods: The study involved a cross-sectional survey that utilized web-based questionnaires to collect responses from 194 participants. The respondents were selected through convenience sampling. Results: It was found that the highest percentage of the respondents, 90 (46.4%) had a moderate level of awareness towards blood donation. The mean for motivating factors was 100.38 (SD=21.15). The majority of the respondents, 151 (77.8%) voted "I donate blood because it is important to help other people" as the primary reason that motivates them to donate blood. The mean for the barrier was 5.84 (SD=2.40). It was found that more than half of the 120 (61.9%) respondents cited fear of feeling faint or dizzy after donation as the most deterring factor. The relationship between the level of awareness and motivation and barriers was statistically significant, with weak correlations (p<0.05, r=0.176) and (p<0.01, r=0.197), respectively. Conclusion: Most of the respondents had moderate awareness, high motivation, and fewer barrier to donating blood. Thus, a campaign about blood donation can be held at attractive centres such as shopping complexes, universities, hospitals, and blood donation centres in order to increase the number of blood bags.