Comparison of Perceptions about Blood Donation among Medical Students and General Public

Abstract

Objectives: To compare the perceptions about blood donation among medical students and the general public and to analyze different motivating factors for blood donation.

Materials and Methods: A comparative cross-sectional study was carried out from September 2022 to June 2023 among 1^st and 2^nd year medical students of Rawalpindi Medical University (RMU) and general public. 306 total participants with an equal number (n = 153) from each group were enrolled in the study by consecutive non-probability sampling. Data was gathered by a structured questionnaire. Participants’ score was ranked as poor (1-3), fair (4-6), and good (7-8) based on their perception. Data was analyzed by using SPSS version 27.0. Descriptive statistics were applied. Pearson chi-square test was applied to evaluate the connection between values. P-value <0.05 was considered significant.

Results: 50.9% and 52.9% males were from medical college and general population respectively. Self-satisfaction was the main motivator among students (84.9%) and general community (71.2%). The main barrier to blood donation among 84.9% medical students was the perceived fear of blood screening while among general public it was the lack of dedicated outreach by organizations requesting blood donations.

Conclusion: Medical students knew more about blood donation than general public. The main motivation for blood donation in both groups was self-satisfaction, while the main obstacle for medical peers was the need for blood screening & in the nonmedical group was a lack of outreach by an organization seeking blood donation.