dc.description.abstract |
Blood donation has been used as a universal remedy for many centuries all over the
world. The World Health Organisation (WHO) recommends that blood should only
be collected from voluntary, non-remunerated donors. With new medical advances,
there is increased demand for blood and blood products but in many countries,
including Kenya, this demand has never been met. The objective of this study was to
determine knowledge levels about blood donation amongst potential adult donors at
selected sites in Nairobi, their attitude towards donation of blood and subsequently
what factors, both negative and positive, influence their blood donation. A total of
456 adults aged 18-65 were selected through consecutive sampling at 3 sites in
Nairobi within a period of 4 months from November 2010 to February 2011.
Information was collected using a semi-structured questionnaire on socio
demographic characteristics, perception concerning risks of donation and opinions on
motivational and deterrent factors to donating blood. Data was analysed using SPSS
version 10. It was found that 41% of the respondents had donated blood in the past
but 59% had not. There was no significant difference between the numbers of males
and females who had ever donated blood (P>0.50). The main reasons for donation
were altruism (33.7%) and duty (32.1%). Other reasons were encouragement by a
friend to donate (13.9%), hearing media appeal for blood (11.8%) and being
compelled to donate at school (3.7%). Analysis on participants’ opinions about what
hinders individuals from donating blood revealed that the two most frequent
responses were fear of having their HIV status checked (31.6%) and ignorance/lack
of knowledge about blood donation (21.5%). Others included fear of pain, anaemia
and infection from use of contaminated needles. Most of the participants (68.9%)
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were of the opinion that enhanced education of the public about blood donation
would encourage more people to donate blood. Multivariate analysis was done to
identify independent predictors of donating blood (p<0.05). This analysis revealed
that respondents who were currently willing to donate blood or thought that there
was relatively small risk of acquiring a disease through blood donation or who
thought that lack of time was not a hindrance to blood donation were likely to have
donated blood in the past.This study shows that despite numerous media campaigns,
enhanced education of the public is needed specifically addressing the fears that
plague the potential blood donor so as to be able to recruit more blood donors and
thus meet national targets. |
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