Knowledge, attitude and practice of voluntary blood donation among university and college students in Yangon, Myanmar

Abstract

Background: Blood can save millions of lives in different clinical settings. According to WHO, blood transfusion services should target young voluntary blood donors as the potential source of sustainable blood supply. As a developing countries, Myanmar have challenges in providing timely and adequate blood supply to patients in need. For effective voluntary donor recruitment, understanding knowledge, attitude and practice towards blood donation among young university and college students is important. The aim of the study is to determine the practice of voluntary blood donations and its associated factors and to find out the reasons for not donating blood among the university and college students in Yangon, Myanmar. Methods: Cross Sectional Study (April to May 2019) with self-administered questionnaires including socio-demographic, knowledge, attitude and practice was conducted among the full time students who are ≥ 18 years old in Yangon Technological University (YTU) and National Management Degree College (NMDC) in Yangon, Myanmar. Non-probability Quota and convenience sampling method was used. Questionnaires were validated with Item-Objective Congruence (IOC) index and reliability tested with Cronbach’s Alpha and KR 20 prior to data collection. Results: Total 341 students (60% females and 40% males) participated in the study with mean age of 19.1 years (SD ± 1.1) and. Among them, 110 (32.3%) practiced blood donation before and all were voluntary blood donors. Minority of the participants have high knowledge level, 74 (21.7%) and high attitude level, 61 (17.9%) towards blood donation. However, most of the participants 286 (83.9%) have willingness to donate blood in the future. The predictors of being voluntary blood donor are male gender AOR (95%CI): 3.03 (1.70, 5.43) p<0.001, having blood related disorder AOR (95%CI): 0.25 (0.09, 0.71) p=0.01, high knowledge level of blood donation AOR (95%CI): 8.24 (3.06, 22.20) p<0.001 and high attitude level of blood donation AOR (95%CI): 7.01 (1.97, 24.90) p=0.003. The main reasons for not donating blood in non-donor participants include no opportunity 43.3%, fear to donate 35.1% and still underage to donate 32.9%. Discussion and conclusion: Practice of voluntary blood donor among the participants is relatively low. Minority have high knowledge and attitude towards blood donation. Male students free from blood disorders with higher knowledge and attitude levels are more likely to donate blood voluntarily. Main reasons for not donating blood were based on lack of opportunity and information. More regular blood donation campaigns and awareness raising in the university students society as well as in community is needed to increase the voluntary blood donations in the country.