Awareness, attitude and practice of blood donation among adults in Kottayam, Kerala

Background: Even though India is having large number of adult population voluntary blood donors contribute less than half of the blood supply; and few countries have mobilised efforts to encourage voluntary blood donation. Objectives: To assess the awareness level and attitude towards blood donation among adult population in KottayamMethods: A descriptive cross sectional study was conducted among 330 subjects. Subjects were selected by systematic random sampling method. A semi-structured questionnaire was used to collect relevant information from the respondents. Data was entered in Excel and analysed using Epi Info software. Results were presented as proportions with 95% confidence limits.Results: Study sample consisted of more females (66.5%). Most of the people (69.8%) had average level of knowledge. Females had better knowledge than males. Only 66(18%) had donated blood. Most common reason for not donating blood was ‘nobody has asked them to donate blood’. Most of them (68%) believed that blood should be donated on humanitarian ground. 14% felt that there should be some kind incentives for donating blood. Conclusions: Present study shows that there is no much relation between knowledge and practice of donating blood as many people were aware of blood donation but never had donated. Health education and awareness camps should focus on changing the people’s attitude so that we can convert their knowledge into practice.