Background: An awareness of knowledge, attitudes, and
practices (KAP) of blood donors towards the COVID-19 pandemic is essential to
avoid a blood inventory crisis. It is therefore necessary to gain a perspective
on the impact of COVID-19 on the attitude of blood donors and an understanding
of the key aspects of their motivation. The study aimed to analyze the KAP of
donors toward blood donation and to find their association with the demographic
factors, aiding in mobilizing and retaining voluntary blood donors in a
pandemic setting.
Methods: A prospective longitudinal study was conducted at
The Department of Immunohematology and Blood Transfusion at a tertiary care
teaching hospital in India over four months spanning from December 2021 to
March 2022 on repeat whole blood donors. A survey-method was used to collect
data in the form of donor responses to questionnaires circulated via emails,
instant messaging services (Whatsapp, Telegram etc.) and social media sites
(Facebook, Twitter etc.). All the classification variables (age, sex,
education, income and occupation) were expressed as frequency and percentage.
Results: A total of
632 donors were included in the study and assessed for donor attitude and fear
factors related to blood donation during COVID-19 pandemic. The mean age of the
study population was 31 years. In terms of donor attitude, most common positive
attitude was that they “would donate blood in the blood center where mask and
sanitizer are available for all staff and blood donors”. Most common negative
attitude was that “they had been in close contact with a patient who had a
respiratory infection, so they should not donate blood”. Regarding practice of
blood donation, 61.9% donors reported that they did not attend blood bank due
to uncertainty about the sanitization of blood bank. The most common responses
about knowledge were that they feared contracting COVID-19 during blood
donation (41.5%) and they had fear of post-COVID-19 complications (37.5%).
Conclusions: To enhance precautionary behaviors among the
public, health officials and policymakers must promote knowledge and efficacy
beliefs about blood donation. Future interventions and policies should adopt a
'donor-centered' approach to close the gaps in KAP related to blood donation,
ultimately motivating and retaining blood donors.
Author(s)
Details
Pandeep Kaur
Department of IHBT, NIMS, Jaipur, Rajasthan, India.
Romesh Jain
Department of Transfusion Medicine, AIIMS, Bhopal, India.
Rakesh Kumar
Department of Transfusion Medicine, AIIMS, Patna, India.
Bala Bhaskar
Department of Transfusion Medicine, Sparsh Hospital, Bengaluru, India.
Satish Kumar
Department of IHBT, NIMS, Jaipur, Rajasthan, India.
Shweta Ranjan
Department of Transfusion Medicine, AIIMS, Patna, India.
Please see the book here: https://doi.org/10.9734/bpi/dhrni/v3/1524
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