Abstract
Background. Understanding the knowledge and awareness of blood donation among potential blood donors in the population, like young people, and the associated attitudes and practices is important. Methodology. This was a cross-sectional study whereby a self-administered questionnaire was used to collect information from the consenting participants. Results. A total of 422 participants were enrolled. Their mean age was 24.2 (SD 3.6) years. Of the 422, 30% have ever donated blood. 55% of those who had ever donated were repeated blood donors. Majority of the participants (93%) had positive attitudes towards blood donation and 88% were willing to donate in the future. Factors that were significantly associated with ever donating blood were male gender, knowing a person who has donated blood, knowledge of the amount of blood donated, willingness to donate in the future, and not expecting any postdonation reward. Discussion. High awareness, positive attitude, and high intention to donate in the future should be used to underscore the need to educate the young people on the value of blood donation in saving lives and to give them correct information on overall requirements for blood donation.
Highlights
Blood transfusion is a key component in modern health care in saving the lives of many people in routine and emergency situations like in gynecological conditions, pregnancy and childbirth, severe childhood illness, trauma and cancers, or medical hematological conditions [1]
There are a total of four registered universities in the region which are Kilimanjaro Christian Medical University College (KCMUCo), Mwenge University College of Education (MWUCE), Stefano Moshi Memorial University College (SMMUCo), and Moshi University College (MUCo)
The results of this study show that there is low proportion of blood donors among the university students in Kilimanjaro, Tanzania
Summary
Blood transfusion is a key component in modern health care in saving the lives of many people in routine and emergency situations like in gynecological conditions, pregnancy and childbirth, severe childhood illness, trauma and cancers, or medical hematological conditions [1]. Notwithstanding the country variations, the overall rate of collection remained below the WHO minimum target of 10 units per a population of 1,000 people per year. A study on blood donors revealed that the majority were aged between 24 and 35 years whereby more than three-quarters were male and in secondary education which may imply that the majority may have donated while attending secondary school [6]. Understanding the knowledge and awareness of blood donation among potential blood donors in the population, like young people, and the associated attitudes and practices is important. Positive attitude, and high intention to donate in the future should be used to underscore the need to educate the young people on the value of blood donation in saving lives and to give them correct information on overall requirements for blood donation
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
