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CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 · Avicenna J Med 2021; 11(02): 70-76
DOI: 10.4103/ajm.ajm_113_20
Original Article

Blood donation among university students: Practices, motivations, and barriers in Saudi Arabia

Mohamed Salih Mahfouz
Department of Family and Community Medicine, Jazan University, Jazan, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
,
Majed Ryani
Department of Family and Community Medicine, Jazan University, Jazan, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
,
Ahmed Saleh Nawar Hamzi
Faculty of Medicine, Jazan University, Jazan, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
,
Dhaifallah Abdullah Zaeri
Faculty of Medicine, Jazan University, Jazan, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
,
Abdullah Abdulrahman Dahdoh
Faculty of Medicine, Jazan University, Jazan, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
,
Abdulaziz Jaber Almalki
Faculty of Medicine, Jazan University, Jazan, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
,
Ahmed Ali Jubran Hakami
Faculty of Medicine, Jazan University, Jazan, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
,
Abdu Ahmed Abkr Aqeeli
Faculty of Medicine, Jazan University, Jazan, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
,
Ibrahim Hussien Tawashi
Faculty of Medicine, Jazan University, Jazan, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
› Author Affiliations
Subject Editor: Financial support and sponsorship Nil.
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Abstract

Context: Blood transfusion is an essential medical procedure conducted with various purposes to provide patients with blood needed. The procedure saves patients’ lives, as blood cannot be manufactured artificially and can only be obtained from human blood sources. Aims: To assess the awareness of, perceptions of, motivations regarding, and barriers to blood donation among a sample of Jazan University students in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). Settings and Design: An observational cross-sectional study was conducted among the undergraduate students of Jazan University. Materials and Methods: Stratified random sampling was used to collect information from 440 students, and a predesigned, structured questionnaire was used to collect data on the study variables. Statistical Analysis: Involved descriptive statistics and inferential statistics. SPSS was used for data analysis. Results: The prevalence of blood donation was 29.0% (95% CI, 25.0–33.3), significantly higher for males at 44.3% (95% CI, 38.3–50.4) than for females at 10.5% (95% CI, 7.3–16.0; P < 0.001), and with odds ratio (OR) = 6.8; [95% CI, 4.1–11.2] than females. Students’ level of knowledge regarding blood donation was low. The main barriers to blood donation were identified as being unqualified for blood donation (57.5%) and risk of contracting infectious disease (48.7%) and the desire to donate in the future to a close friend (38.6%). The main motivations for donating blood were identified as religious reasons (77.5%), altruism (77.5%), and to serve the homeland and meet the call of need (77.5%). Conclusions: The prevalence of blood donation was found to be low, and students’ knowledge regarding blood donation appeared to be lacking. The development of awareness programs among the university’s students will address students’ misconceptions about blood donation and encourage them to join donation campaigns.

Key Messages: Students’ knowledge regarding blood donation appeared to be lacking. The prevalence of blood donation was also not satisfactory. Being unqualified for blood donation and fear and misconceptions regarding blood donation were observed to be the main causes of non-donation. The development of awareness programs among the university’s students will encourage them to join donation campaigns.

Keywords

Blood - donation - knowledge - motivations and barriers


Publication History

Article published online:
06 August 2021

© 2021. Syrian American Medical Society. This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonDerivative-NonCommercial-License, permitting copying and reproduction so long as the original work is given appropriate credit. Contents may not be used for commercial purposes, or adapted, remixed, transformed or built upon. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

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