Awareness of and attitude towards blood donation in students at the Semnan University of Medical Sciences

Abstract

Background: Despite the increasing demands for blood and its products, some people, especially the youth, have little interest in donating blood. Objective: This study aimed to assess the university students' awareness of and attitude towards blood donation. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, a descriptive analytical approach was used to examine awareness of and attitude towards blood donation among students in Semnan University of Medical Sciences, Semnan, Iran. The study was performed in 2015-2016. A total of 749 university students participated in this study. A special questionnaire was used to collect demographic information and the participants' awareness of and attitude towards blood donation. Before beginning the main phase of the study, the reliability and validity of the questionnaire were examined and verified. The SPSS software, version 16, was used for statistical analysis. We used descriptive statistics, specifically chi-square and Friedman tests, to analyze the data. A p-value of <0.05 was considered significant. Results: 63.55% of the participants were female. Only 9.74% of the participants had a history of blood donation. Based on the results, 253 participants (35.33%) had low awareness, 352 participants (49.16%) had moderate awareness, and 111 participants (15.5%) had good awareness of blood donation. In addition, 176 participants (23.59%) had negative attitude, 438 participants (58.71%) had moderate attitude, and only 132 participants (17.69%) had good attitude towards blood donation. Results also showed a statistically significant relationship between gender and awareness of the history of blood donation (p=0.047). However, there was no significant relationship between gender and attitude towards blood donation (p=0.27). When asked about their favorite method of receiving information about blood donation, 376 participants (50.2%) preferred social media. Conclusion: A considerable percentage of students have low awareness of and negative attitude towards blood donation. The low awareness and negative attitude towards blood donation can be considered as important factors contributing to the lack of interest and poor participation in blood donation among this population. Therefore, there is a critical need for training and culture building activities and programs in order to increase university students' awareness and improve their attitude towards blood donation.

Assessment of the Level and Factors associated with Knowledge, Attitude and Practice of Blood Donation among Medical and Paramedical Personnel in Alert Hospital, Ethiopia

“…The findings observed in this study lay in the middle of the finding of previous studies that have examined the blood donation practice among university students in different parts of Africa 55.4%, 45.8%, 30%, 22.9%, 12.5%, and 9.74% 8 , 12 ,16,17,21, 22 and community-based studies 53.3%, 22.6% to 16.1%. 9 , 11 , 15 The study also further identified only 60 (42.3%) repeated blood donor compared to 55% of in University students in Tanzania.…”

“… 10 , 11 A study among University students in Iran, in 2018 stated that study participants had 23.6% negative, 58.7% moderate, and only 17.7% good attitude towards blood donation. 12 Similarly, communitybased studies from Ethiopia found 52.2% and 32.9% of favorable attitude towards blood donation. 9 , 11 However, a study conducted at Gondar town Northwest Ethiopia in 2016 identified 82% good attitude towards blood donation, which had huge difference from other similar studies.…”

Blood Donation Practice among Undergraduate Students in a Tertiary Care Hospital: A Descriptive Cross-sectional Study

“…22 Whereas, another study by Gebresilase H. W. et al reports religion to be one of the significant predictors of knowledge regarding blood donation among students. 23 Similarly, 6% and 7.6% of non-donors indicated religion and cultural belief as to the barrier for not donating blood before, as reported by Javaeed A. et al 14 , and Ugwu N. I. et al 7 respectively. Our study population consists of the Hindu population mostly, and there were no reported restrictions imposed by the Hindu community over blood donation practice.…”

“…A study conducted by Ugwu N. I. et al in Nigeria among medical students reports that 69.6% of blood donors have only donated once, and 16% donated twice before. 7 Also, in another study, there were only 13.6% of students as regular blood donors. 8 Tariq S. et al also reported that 8.7% of donors are one time donors among medical students.…”

“…Some students 3.1% are also found to be worrying about the proper use of their donated blood according to the study by Javaeed A. et al 14 Similarly, 7.6% of medical students who have not donated blood before were worried regarding the misuse of the blood in hospitals as reported by Ugwu N. I. et al 7 In our study also, 6.94% of non-donors stated they were worried about the proper use of the donated blood. It shows the lack of trust of the students over the agencies and organizations who are collecting their blood.…”