KNOWLEDGE, PRACTICE, AND MOTIVATIONS OF BLOOD DONATION AMONG MINISTRY OF HEALTH PRIMARY HEALTH CARE VISITORS IN JEDDAH, KSA 2018

Background: There is a rising demand for blood especially in the primary health care setting. Assessing the level of knowledge and motivations of blood donors is essential in order to enhance the awareness and ultimately improve the constant lack of blood in hospital units. This study aims to measure the level of knowledge, practice, barriers and motivations of blood donation among the ministry of health, primary health care visitors in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, 2018. Subjects and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted including 400 participants randomly selected from five primary health care centers of Ministry of Health. A self-administrative questionnaire was distributed and multi-stage sampling technique was used for data collection. Main Results: Among the 400 participants, 44% of them had good knowledge score and 30% were donors. Knowledge score was statistically significant with education level [p=0.01], job description [p=0.02] and previous experience of donation [p=0.01]. In addition, male [p=0.01], aged 25-64 [p=0.01], lower income [p=0.01]; and participants with good knowledge score [p=0.00] were more likely to donate. Most common barriers to blood donation were identified as health issues [31%], lack of time [25%], and never thought about it [33%], while most frequent motivations were accessibility [77%], transporting blood donation units [73%], religious motives [76%], and media involvement [81%]. Conclusion and Recommendation: This study found that knowledge and practice of blood donation was limited. Further education programs should be added with expanding various aspects about donor's conditions and limitations are recommended emphasizing on the young age group and female population.