Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice of Voluntary Blood Donation among Healthcare Workers at the University of Benin Teaching Hospital, Benin City, Nigeria
Introduction. Adequate and safe blood supply has remained a challenge in developing countries like ours. There is a high dependency on family replacement and remunerated blood donors in our environment which carries an attendant increased risk of transfusion transmissible infection. Objectives. The objectives of this study were to assess the knowledge, attitude, and practice of voluntary blood donation among healthcare workers (nonphysicians) and to identify and recruit potential voluntary blood donors. Methodology. This was a cross-sectional descriptive study carried out at the University of Benin Teaching Hospital, Benin City. A total of 163 staffs were recruited. Pretest questionnaires were used to assess their knowledge, attitude, and practice of voluntary blood donation. Statistical Analysis. The responses were collated and analyzed with the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) 16. The association between blood donation practice and gender of respondents, category of staff, and level of education was tested using Chi-square and Fisher’s tests where appropriate. were considered statistically significant. Results. The median age of the respondents was 32 years (18–56) with females accounting for 55.6% (90). A total of 74.8% (122) attained tertiary education, and 55.8% (91) of respondents were senior staffs. The majority has good knowledge and positive attitude towards donation; however, only 22.1% (36) have donated blood with 41.7% (15) of these being voluntary. Male workers were more likely to donate ( ). There is no significant association between blood donation and level of education. Conclusion. There is a strong disparity between the knowledge, attitude, and practice of voluntary donation amongst healthcare workers. 1. Introduction In spite of extensive promising research, a true substitute for blood and blood components may not be available for many years [1]. Therefore, blood donation by humans will continue to be the major source for blood and blood components. There are no national data in Nigeria on blood donor demand and supply; however, available data suggest that over 7,000 units of blood are utilized annually at the University of Benin Teaching Hospital, most of which are provided by blood vendors [2, 3]. Donated blood can be lifesaving for individuals who have lost large volumes of blood from serious accidents, obstetric and gynecological hemorrhages, or surgery and stem cell transplant patients as well as for individuals who have symptomatic anemia from medical or hematologic conditions or cancers. Therefore, blood is an
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