KNOWLEDGE, ATTITUDE, PRACTICE AND ASSOCIATED FACTORS OF BLOOD DONATION AMONG HEALTH CARE WORKERS IN SPHMMC,ADDIS ABABA,ETHIOPIA

Abstract

Abstract Background- Blood transfusion saves lives and improves health, but many patients requiring transfusion do not have timely access to safe blood. Health professionals by virtue of their training and medical practices are expected to be highly informed on the processes of donor blood procurement and the challenges of supply as well as the potential hazards of transfusion. They also constitute a potential pool of eligible but yet under explored donors. Objective – The objective of this study is to assess knowledge, attitude, and practice to wards blood donation among health care workers in St.paul’s Hospital Millennium Medical College, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Methods- Institution based analytical cross sectional study design was conducted among all health care workers in St. Paul’s Hospital Millennium Medical College. The study period was between February 25 to March 30, 2017 .The dependent variables were knowledge, attitude and practice whereas the independent variables were socio demographic characteristics. Stratified sampling method was used and individual was selected by simple random sampling method. Data was collected with structured questionnaires and analyzed by SPSS version 20.0 and p value < 0.05 was used as cut-off point for a variable to become independent predictor. Association between outcome and predictor variables were calculated by odds ratio and 95% CI. Results - Out of total participants (n=279), 45.2% were males and mean age range, 28.93 ± 5.166 years. Of them, 86.4% of participant had good knowledge regarding blood donation. Being a male increased the odds of having good knowledge on blood donation [AOR (95%CI) 4.58(1.52, 13.84)]. Of total, participants 79.9% had good/favorable attitude towards blood donation. Almost two third of the participants, 70.9% had ever donated blood. Being a female was less likely to practice blood donation than male, [AOR (95%CI): 0.37(0.17, 0.81)]. From qualification towards blood donation practice, having first degree was more likely to practice blood donation than diploma, [AOR (95%CI): 3.98(1.06, 14.88)]. Conclusion and recommendations - The level of knowledge and attitude towards blood donation is higher than other surveys held at comparable setup. Yet practice level shows minor discordance with knowledge and attitude. It is better to work on those who were not approached to voluntarily donate blood. Key words- Attitude, Blood donation, Donors, Health workers, Knowledge, practice.