Awareness and practice of blood donation by college students in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia

Background and Objectives Studies on the awareness and misconceptions of and the motivation towards blood donation by college students will help in the recruitment and retention of young donors, who are the best blood source. Such studies on female college students are lacking, especially in Saudi Arabia. This study includes both male and female college students in an attempt to identify barriers to donation. Methods A stratified random sample of 444 college students from Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, was offered a questionnaire on the awareness and practice of blood donation, in February 2014. The results were analysed and statistically tested. Results Our respondents demonstrated good general knowledge about blood donation. Females had better knowledge than males. More than 80% of the students demonstrated a positive attitude which is also higher in females than males. Only 12·2% of the total had donated previously with males dominating. There was a poor rate of donor retention. Conclusion Awareness and motivation of the study group towards blood donation was good compared to many other studies worldwide. However, there is a failure to transfer this into actual blood donation. Lack of information and misconceptions, represented mainly by different fears, were the main donation barriers. The poor rate of female donation, compared to other countries, was due to the lack of accommodation facilities at the donation area, social factors and fears. Removal of donation barriers to improve donor recruitment and retention is discussed.