Knowledge, attitudes and practices among medical students on blood donation

Abstract

Introduction and Aim: Blood is a lifesaving component on many occasions. Despite increasing awareness of the importance of blood, there is a wide gap between the demand and supply of blood and its various components. The aim was to determine the knowledge, attitudes and practices on blood donation among the students of a medical college in Mangalore, Dakshina Kannada. Materials and Methods: The present descriptive observational study was based on the students’ response to the pre-validated questionnaire which had questions regarding the knowledge, attitudes and practices of blood donation. The students studying in different classes of MBBS had been included in the study. The data was analysed using the statistical software SPSS version 28. Qualitative variables were presented as frequency and percentage and quantitative variables as mean± SD. Chi square test was used to find the association of knowledge and attitudes among the gender, p value <0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: The MBBS students had an overall good knowledge and favourable attitudes about blood donation. However, many failed to answer some questions regarding the advantage of blood donation and the number of patients who benefited from one unit of blood. We observed a poor practice of blood donation among the MBBS students. This was attributed to lack of opportunity. Conclusion: The study emphasizes the need for awareness programs and advertisements regarding voluntary blood donation.