Knowledge and Intentions toward Blood Donation among Medical Students of Taibah University, Madinah, Saudi Arabia 2015

Introduction. The shortage of blood in blood banks in Saudi Arabia is mainly due to the increase in demands as a result of an increase in the population size and the increased number of complex therapies such as chemotherapy, organ transplants and heart surgeries, which require large amounts of blood and blood products.

Objectives. The present study aimed to assess the knowledge, attitude, and to understand the obstacles facing blood donation among medical students.

Methodology. In a cross-sectional, descriptive study 408 medical students were assessed by self-administered questionnaire conducted at Taibah University, College of Medicine, Madinah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia between April 2015 and June 2015. Participants were selected by convenient non-random sampling technique.

Results. The study population consisted of 408 respondents. The majority of the respondents (71.8%) had never donated blood before. Health reasons were the most common cause for declining to donate blood 17.6%. While nothing worries most of the males (47.8%) regarding blood donation, disease transmission ranked first among females (28.3%).Most of the participants (87.7%) believe that there was no enough awareness to donate blood in the society.

Conclusion. Increasing the awareness of blood donation in the society especially among those in the medical field may increase the number of donors in Saudi Arabia. In addition, the implantation of some motivational factors might be helpful.