Knowledge and attitude towards voluntary blood donation among students from Mumbai University

Dnyanesh Limaye, Pooja Naik, Tejal Varekar, Priyanka Salunkhe, Chaitali Shah, Arlan Sydymanov, Vaidehi Limaye, Ravi Shankar Pitani, Sushama Sathe, Atul Kapadi, Gerhard Fortwengel
2018 International Journal of Scientific Reports  
<p class="abstract"><strong>Background:</strong> Blood is scarce; its demand far outweighs the supply. In addition to limited supply, the issue of safety especially with regard to the risk of transfusion transmissible infection is also an issue of utmost concern especially in the developing countries. Blood transfusion services in India have gained special significance in recent years and forms a vital part of national health care system. Voluntary Non-Remunerated Blood Donation (VNRBD) is the
more » ... afest of all types of blood donations. One of the potential sources that can be tapped for blood donation is the young and physically fit students from educational institutions across India.</p><p class="abstract"><strong>Methods:</strong> A cross-sectional study was carried out among students from Mumbai University, India during May–June 2017. Two hundred and fifty students were approached to participate in the study of which 201 agreed to participate (males: 104; females: 97). Pretested questionnaire was distributed and collected data was analyzed using IBM SPSS version 23. </p><p class="abstract"><strong>Results:</strong> High number of participants agreed about encouraging general public about voluntary blood donation (96%; 193/201), lack of awareness about VBD in general public (82%; 164/201). But not a single participant was able to respond to the knowledge part of the questionnaire with 100% accuracy. Almost all the participants had correct knowledge about blood groups (98%; 196/201) and blood matching need (195/201; 97%).</p><p class="abstract"><strong>Conclusions:</strong> Participants showed good attitude but demonstrated poor knowledge about voluntary blood donation. Details about blood donation should be incorporated in the undergraduate curriculum and periodic awareness programs should be organized for students.</p>
doi:10.18203/issn.2454-2156.intjscirep20182202 fatcat:tw3lx3r2fvfjbeby224vv5qjv4