Factors influencing blood donation among university students in Vojvodina, Serbia: cross-sectional study

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: The aim of the present study was to assess the effect of sociodemographic factors on knowledge, attitudes, motivation and potential barriers of university students towards blood donation in the order to more effective donation promotion. DESIGN: The cross-sectional study was conducted on 1000 participants (500 non-blood donors-NBD, 276 first time blood donors-FTBD and 224 regular blood donors-RBD) from the 14 faculties of the University of Novi Sad, Serbia. The measurement tool used was a pretested survey questionnaire that included 22 questions focused on the factors influencing blood donation. RESULTS: Males accounted for 61.5% of participants. Average age of participants was 23.19 years, and over 80% were pursuing basic academic studies. University students: (1) correctly answered 65% of the questions about blood donation (NBD 59.2%, FTBD 59.7%, RBD 84.3%); (2) expressed 70.5% positive attitude towards donating blood (NBD 58.6%, FTBD 76.9%, RBD 89.1%), in both cases statistically significantly higher in RBD. Helping others who need blood (47.5%) was the main reason for donating blood and fear of needles (41.4%) was the most common potential barrier, with a significant statistical difference among the other factors. CONCLUSIONS: The study demonstrates that university students show good knowledge and philanthropic attitude towards blood donation. Donation promotion should be focused on addressing potential barriers.