Review Article
Abdirahman Omer Ahmed
Abstract
Background: Availability of blood for transfusion is limited in Somaliland; as is the evidence relating to knowledge, attitude and practice on blood donation among youth Since youth represent both large share of the population and important group of potential donors, this study attempts to investigate what factors may be important to consider for promoting voluntary blood donation among them. Objectives: To assess the Knowledge, Attitude, Practice (KAP) of Voluntary Blood Donation and associated factor among undergraduate students in Hargeisa University. Methods: An institutional based cross-sectional study was conducted on 311 undergraduate regular students in the University of Hargeisa from March 1-12 2016. The study participants were selected using stratified random sampling. A pre-tested structured questionnaire was used to collect data. Variables with P-value<0.25 were selected as candidates for Multivariate regression and variables with P-value<0.05 were considered as statistically significantly associated. Results: The proportion of students having adequate knowledge was 46.6% and significantly associated with being a medical student [AOR: 2.591, 95% CI: 1.518, 4.422]. The proportion of students having favorable attitude was 46.9% and significantly associated with being a student at the faculty of Applied Science [AOR: 2.8, 95% CI: 1.136, 6.956], Health Science [AOR: 3.8, 95% CI: 1.205, 12.554] and Social Science [AOR: 10.00, 95% CI: 1.786, 55.976]. The proportion of students who have ever donated blood was 11.3% and significantly associated with age [AOR: 1.284, 95% CI: 1.078, 1.530] and being a male [AOR: 7.465, 95% CI: 2.104, 26.487]. Conclusion and Recommendation: More than half of the students had inadequate knowledge and unfavorable attitude towards blood donation; and majority of them had never donated blood. University Administrators in collaboration with Ministry of Health and Hargeisa Group Hospital’s Blood Bank Department must come up with plans to increase KAP of blood donation among university students.