Knowledge, Attitude and Practice of Voluntary Blood Donation among Physicians in a Tertiary Health Facility of a Developing Country

Abstract

Introduction: There is shortage of active blood donors to meet the increased demand.Precisely aimed promotion and information, targeted motivation and selection of non-remunerated healthy volunteer donors are needed for an adequate and safe blood and blood products supply.Objectives: The objectives of this study are to assess the knowledge, attitude and practice of voluntary blood donation among physician, to identify and recruit potential voluntary blood donors amongst them and to determine the association between blood donation and gender, duration of practice and sub specialty of the physicians.Methodology: This was a cross sectional qualitative study conducted at the University of Benin Teaching Hospital, Benin City.A pre tested questionnaires was administered to 140 physicians in the tertiary health facility. Statistical analysis:The responses were collated and analyzed with the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) 16.The results are presented in frequency tables.The association between blood donation practice and gender of respondents, duration of practice and specialty of the responding physicians were tested using Chi-square and Fisher's test where appropriate.P-values < 0.05 were considered significant.Results: Only 58 (41.4%) physicians have donated with 33 (56.9%) donating less than once a year, 18 (31%) between 1-3 times a year and 5 (8.6%) more than thrice a year.Most (53.4%) donated voluntarily, 39.7% for a friend or relative, 3.4% for remuneration and 5.2% to know their screening status.Conclusion: Physicians have good knowledge of voluntary donation and have a positive attitude towards donation but there is a disparity in their practice of blood donation.Physicians by virtue of their training and medical practices are expected to be highly informed on the processes of donor blood procurement and the challenges of supply as well as the potential hazards of transfusion.They also constitute a potential pool of eligible but yet under explored donors.The objectives of this study are to assess the knowledge, attitude and practice of voluntary blood donation among physician, to identify and recruit potential voluntary blood donors amongst them and to determine the association between blood donation and gender, duration of practice and sub specialty of the physicians. MethodologyThis is a cross sectional qualitative study conducted at the University of Benin Teaching Hospital (UBTH) as part of the 2011 World Blood Donor Day Programme.The hospital is a major referral, training center for both undergraduate and postgraduate doctors in Research Article Journal of Blood Disorders & Transfusion

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