Intention to voluntary blood donation among private higher education students, Jimma town, Oromia, Ethiopia: Application of the theory of planned behaviour.

BACKGROUND

Blood is an important and crucial component in the management of patients presenting with severe accident injuries, surgical conditions, malignancies, pregnancy-related complications, and other medical conditions.

OBJECTIVES

To assess intention to voluntary blood donation among private higher education students in Jimma Town, South West Ethiopia, 2019.

METHODS

Institution-based cross-sectional study with quantitative methods was conducted in private higher education students in Jimma town. A multistage sampling technique was used to recruit study participants. First, a simple random sampling technique was used to select departments in each private higher education institution. Seven departments were included in the study and after proportionally allocated in each department, a total of 595 were participated in the study, producing a response rate of 98%. The data was collected using self-administered structured questioners with 3 trained data collectors. Multivariable linear regression analysis was done to assess association between the independent variables and dependent variable.

RESULTS

The mean score for intention of the respondents to donate blood voluntarily was 15.41 out of 25 with standard deviation of 4.42.The TPB variables explained 61.3% of the variance of intention to donate blood. Direct perceived behavioral control (β = 0.745, P < 0.001), direct attitude (B = 0.295, P<0.001) and direct subjective norm (β = 0.131, P< 0.001) were significant predictors of the intention.

CONCLUSION

Respondents' intentions are mainly determined by perceived barriers and, subjective norms, the attitude of respondents towards voluntary blood donation.