Community Medicine Abstracts - College of Medicine and Health ...

Project No. 26 (1993)The Knowledge, Attitude and Practice of people towards Blood Donation in AlAinStudent Authors: Amna Suhail Al MahairiFaculty Supervisors: Dr. N. Pugh, Dr. A. BenerAbstract:Objective To assess the Al-Ain community knowledge, attitude and practice towardsblood donation.Objectives to know how many donors and non-donors we have in Al Ain communityand the reasons why non-donors are not participating in supplying blood stock; andattempt to know the best way of tackling the problem of blood shortage in UAE.Design A cross-sectional study was carried out in two primary health care clinics andtwo general hospitals in Al Ain using an interview administered questionnaire.Subjects 211 subjects within the age group (17-65) were interviewed.Results 32.2% of the study subjects were donors, while 68% were non-donors:52.13% of non-donors were willing to give blood. Apprehension of needle, blood, orharmful effects of blood donation were the most common causes given by non-donorsfor not giving blood. It was found that donors had more favorable attitude than nondonorsbut there was no statistically significant difference between donors and nondonorsin knowledge (p=0.1851).Conclusions 52% of people were potential donors, i.e. willing to give blood. Therefore,the health system and health education providers are the only ones to be blamed inthe problem of blood shortage. A more effective approach should be tried regardinghealth education programs.