Knowledge about blood donation among a sample of Thai university students

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Blood banks in Thailand use only a voluntary donation system. Although this has been established for many years, the quantity of blood is still insufficient. Knowledge about blood donation and attitudes toward it are inadequate, especially in rural areas. The registry data of the National Blood Centre, Thai Red Cross Society, indicate that most voluntary blood donors are university students. The present study was therefore conducted among the students of Chulalongkorn University to assess their knowledge of voluntary, non-remunerated blood donation. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Four hundred students participated in this study. A self-administered questionnaire and face-to-face interview on various aspects of blood donation were used for data collection. RESULTS: Although most participants (80%) knew about blood donation, only 11% (44 subjects) had ever donated blood voluntarily. We found no significant correlation between demographic data (gender, age, educational level of subjects studied) and such knowledge or actual blood donation. Among the non-donor respondents, fear (305 cases) was the most common reason for not donating blood. CONCLUSIONS: Greater knowledge about blood donation does not lead to donation. Therefore, specific campaigns are needed to convert this into actual voluntary donation.