Research Article
Knowledge, Attitude and Practices about Blood Donation among Undergraduate Medical Students in Karachi
| Zeeshan Ahmed1*, Mubashir Zafar1, Adeel Ahmed Khan2, Muhammad Umair Anjum3 and Muhammad Asad Siddique4 | ||
| 1Department of Community Medicine, Dow University of Health Sciences, Karachi, Pakistan | ||
| 2Department of Community Health Sciences, Aga Khan University, Karachi, Pakistan | ||
| 3Royal Alexandra Hospital, Paisley, Scotland | ||
| 4School of Health Sciences, Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh, UK | ||
| Corresponding Author : | Zeeshan Ahmed Department of Community Medicine Dow University of Health Sciences, Karachi, Pakistan Tel: +92-3232679255 E-mail: zeeshan.ahmed@duhs.edu.pk |
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| Received February 03, 2014; Accepted March 25, 2014; Published March 29, 2014 | ||
| Citation: Ahmed Z, Zafar M, Khan AA, Anjum MU, Siddique MA (2014) Knowledge, Attitude and Practices about Blood Donation among Undergraduate Medical Students in Karachi. J Infect Dis Ther 2:134. doi:10.4172/2332-0877.1000134 | ||
| Copyright: © 2014 Ahmed Z, et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. | ||
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Abstract
Background: Blood donation is a major concern to the society as donated blood is lifesaving for individuals who need it. In Pakistan, the concept of voluntary blood donors is almost non-existent due to the absence of blood donor motivation and retention strategies. The healthy, active and receptive huge student population can be potential blood donor to meet the safe blood requirements. The objective of this study was to determine the knowledge, attitude and practices about blood donation among undergraduate medical students in Karachi. Methods: A cross sectional study was conducted in two public and one private medical college in Karachi from January to March 2012. A total of 600 medical students were interviewed with the help of structured questionnaire. Data analysis was performed in SPSS version 19. Multiple regressions were used to examine the effect of different independent variables on a single dependent variable to test the statistical significance at 95% confidence level. Results: The majority of participants (92%) had appropriate knowledge regarding the various aspects of blood donation. Attitude domain showed that around 42% of students were positive about blood donation. Around 50% of students showed willingness to donate blood. After adjusting for potential confounders, male gender was associated with appropriate knowledge, positive attitude and willingness for blood donation when compared against female gender. Conclusion: Good knowledge about blood donation practices is not transforming in donating blood. Interactive awareness sessions on blood donation should be organized during undergraduate years and opportunities for blood donation should be created for the students, which can greatly enhance the movement for “voluntary non-remunerated blood donation”, to ensure good quality of blood and safe modern medical care.
