Knowledge, attitude, and practices regarding blood donation: A multicenter study in a large cosmopolitan city.

BACKGROUND

To assess the knowledge, attitude, and practice of blood donation among medical students of three government universities and three private sector universities in large cosmopolitan city.

MATERIAL AND

METHODS

This study was a multi-center cross-sectional study conducted in six different medical colleges of a large city exceeding 20 million population to assess KAP for Voluntary Blood donation among medical students. The study interviewed 834 participants with written informed consent and approval from the institutional review board.

RESULTS

The overall prevalence of participants who had donated blood before was found to be 26%, while only 20.7% of the total sample i.e. 173 out of 834 medical students, donated in the last year. Multivariate analysis identified male gender and previous transfusion history as most predictive for blood donation, while religion didn't significantly influence the decision to donate blood. A significant but weak correlation (spearman correlation = 0.150, p < .001) was found between perceived and actual knowledge scores.

CONCLUSION

While students are eager to donate on humanitarian grounds, a significant gap remains between their perceived and actual knowledge. We also found that women are an untapped donor resource, as few have ever donated. By addressing specific concerns and integrating hands-on hematology training into the medical curriculum, we can effectively mobilize this vital donor population and bridge the knowledge-practice divide.