Knowledge and practice of blood donation among university undergraduates

Abstract

Background: Blood donation is an essential component of health care which saves millions of lives each year.Students of tertiary institutions in Nigeria constitute a significant percentage of the population who areconsidered to meet the criteria for voluntary blood donation. We sought to assess the knowledge, attitude andpractice of blood donation among undergraduates to provide data for developing effective strategies targeted at the youth. Methods: This was a descriptive cross-sectional study of 419 students of the University of Lagos, Nigeria using self-administered questionnaires. Results: The mean age of the respondents was 22.2± 3.8 years; and 88.5% had heard of blood donation. Only 14.3% of the respondents had good knowledge about blood donation. More of the students in the higher level  had good knowledge of blood donation (X² = 42.9, p < 0.001). Eighty three percent of the respondents had positive attitude towards blood donation, only 19.6% of the respondents had donated blood before; among this group 72% were willing to donate again. More of the males and students in the higher levels had donated blood (X² = 7.71, P=0.005,  X²=25.7, p<0.0001 respectively). Conclusion: The students had inadequate knowledge and poor practice of blood donation and these needs to be improved on. Establishment of voluntary blood donor club on the campus and enlightenment campaigns are needed to improve the knowledge and of blood donation  practices of youths.

Key Words: Attitude, Blood donation, Knowledge, Nigeria, Practice, Students. High Med Res J 2013;13:26-30