Exploring the knowledge and attitudes of young adults towards blood donation

Abstract

Blood has always been identified to have a therapeutic effect on the body. The World Health Organisation recommends countries to achieve blood only from voluntary non-remunerated donors since the incidence of blood borne disease is lower than that of paid blood donors. Hence, in order to enhance compliance and achieve a safe pool of blood, it is imperative for blood banks to gain an insight on the public's attitudes and knowledge in the field of blood donation. Hence, the aim of this descriptive study is to explore the knowledge and attitudes of young adults towards blood donation. Quantitative and some qualitative data was collected using non-coded mailed questionnaires administered to a random sample of 45 Maltese university students, aged between 18 and 25 years. A response rate of 71 % was obtained. This study revealed that donating blood is not a common practice amongst young adults. Furthermore, it is much less common amongst females. Moreover, most blood donors identified altruism as the main reason to why they donate blood. On the other hand, fear was found to be the most common barrier to donating blood amongst non-blood donors. In addition, non-cash benefits were found to be more affective than remuneration in getting young adults to donate. Moreover, certain misconceptions are still present in the young adult population. Finally, donating blood did not seem to increase the level of knowledge of blood donors. In the light of these findings, various recommendations for practice and research were issued.