Knowledge, attitude, and practice of voluntary blood donation among medical students of pdu medical college rajkot

Background: In spite of extensive promising research, a true substitute for blood and blood components may not be available for many years (1).Therefore; blood donation by humans will continue to be the major source for blood and blood components the attitude, beliefs, and level of knowledge associated with blood donation may affect the disposition of potential donors to blood donation. Health workers are expected to have a good knowledge of blood usage, to be aware of the increasing demand and scarcity of the products, and are thus expected to donate as well as encourage voluntary blood donation among the public Materials and Methods: This was a cross-sectional descriptive study carried in February 2014 at PDU Medical College Rajkot. Pretested questionnaires were used to assess their knowledge, attitude, and practice of voluntary blood donation. A total of 150 students were recruited from the 2 year, Prefinal and final year MBBS by quota sampling to participate in the study Result Knowledge of Blood Transfusion: A total of 128 (85.3%) respondents expressed good knowledge of the common blood group types, and 144 (96%) knew their own blood groups. Attitude towards Blood Donation: A 145(96.6%) respondents said blood donation was good. Voluntary donation was accepted as the best source of blood donors by 120 (80 %), replacement donors by 20 (13.3%), remunerated by 10 (6.6%). Fifty (33.3%) said blood donation may have adverse consequences. Practice of Blood Donation: Thirty-six (24 %) have donated in the past. Only 5 (3.3%) were regular blood donors. Only 20 (13.3 %) are voluntary, and 16 (10.6%) donated to a friend or relative in need of blood Conclusion: In conclusion medical students are reasonably informed and have positive perception towards blood donation; however, only few of them have donated and are positively disposed to donate blood. There is a need for active education program to encourage all and if this happens adequate and safe blood from this group will be guaranteed.