Determinants of Blood Donation Behaviour of General Public in Pakistan

Background: Millions of lives are saved by blood transfusion. The use of whole blood is a well accepted and commonly employed measures without which many modern surgical procedures could not be performed. Aims: The aim of the current research was to, "Identify the reasons for people donating and not donating blood voluntarily. Settings and design: A cross-sectional observational study in Rahim Yar Khan Materials and methods: This study was conducted at the blood bank and OPD of Sheikh Zayed Medical College / Hospital Rahim Yar Khan. All the blood donors at the blood bank and visitors to hospital OPD of Sheikh Zayed Medical College / Hospital Rahim Yar Khan above 15 to 60 years of age irrespective to gender were eligible as the study participants. A structured questionnaire was prepared for interview. By using convenient sampling technique 400 individuals were interviewed. Among 400, there were 100 blood donors and 300 hospital visitors at OPD were included in the study. For making comparison the blood donors at blood bank were labeled as donors and all other participants were labeled as non donors. Data on demographics, donation behavior, incentives, risk perception and attitudes towards donation and transfusion were collected and analyzed separately for donors and non-donors. Percentages and ODDS ratio were used in this study. Results: Out of 400 participants, 100 were blood donors and 300 were non-donors. Among the participants 78% were male and 22% were female. The mean age of donors was 32 +/- 12 and of non donors was 38 +/- 23 years. Gender-wise greater proportion of the blood donors were men than the women counterparts in our sample, 97% were male and 3% were female. Among the donors 61% of the participants were illiterate, The results showed that women and young people donate the least and as level of education increased, the percent of blood donors decreased. Among the non-donors 58% were illiterate, among the non-donors 81% were male and 19% were female. While it was asked for blood donation in case of terrorism and accidents, 88% of all respondents were ready to donate blood. Conclusions: Blood donation behaviors could be changed with active health education programmes and by giving honor and facilitation to the community.