Knowledge, misconceptions and motivations towards blood donation among university students in Saudi Arabia

Objective: To determine the knowledge, misconceptions and motivations towards blood donation among university students in KSA.

Methods: This cross sectional study was carried out at the King Abdulaziz University, Rabigh campus, Jeddah, KSA. A total of 326 adult males were interviewed and each individual completed a questionnaire in Arabic language on various aspects of blood donation. Data was analyzed using SPSS-16.

Results: Out of 326 individuals, 264 (80.98%) were non donors and 62 (19.02%) were donors, 13% donated once, 5% donated twice and 1% donating regularly. Regarding the knowledge part of the questionnaire many of the respondents did not have the basic knowledge and the two common sources of information for blood donation were friends (53%), and TV (24%). The major motivations for donors were to help family or friend (30%), saving others lives (28%), religious reasons (20%) and altruism (12%). Among the respondents the most prevalent misconception was contracting infection like HIV or Hepatitis B&C (26%).

Conclusion: The knowledge of blood donation is not up to the mark and many misconceptions exist among young Saudi University students.