Evaluation of the Effect of a Health Education Program on Knowledge and Attitude towards Blood and Plasma Donation among Medical Students at Port Said University

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Faculty of Medicine, Port Said University, Port Said, Egypt

2 Community Medicine Department, Faculty of Medicine, Port Said University, Port Said, Egypt

Abstract

Background: Blood donation is a vital healthcare intervention, and increasing voluntary blood and plasma donations is crucial to maintaining a stable and safe blood supply. Effective educational programs on the importance and benefits of donations are key strategies for enhancing voluntary donor participation. This study aimed to determine the effect of an educational intervention on medical students’ knowledge and attitudes regarding voluntary blood and plasma donation. Methods: This pretest-posttest interventional study was conducted among first-year medical students at the Faculty of Medicine, Port Said University, Egypt, from November 2022 to May 2023. Cluster random sampling was applied, and data was collected using a valid, pre-designed, and self-administered questionnaire before and after the educational program. The educational program was based on the World Health Organization guidelines, focusing on the identified knowledge gaps based on pre-intervention data. Results: The study included 288 students with a median age of 18 years, of whom 52.6% were males and 86% had never donated blood. The health education program significantly improved participants’ knowledge, increasing adequate knowledge from 28.5% pre-intervention to 95.2% post-intervention (p < 0.001). Positive attitudes towards blood donation were observed in 99.6% of the participants, and there was no change in attitude post-intervention (p = 0.287). The scores of control beliefs about plasma donation improved (p = 0.015), while the other belief metrics did not show significant changes. Conclusions: Despite the positive attitudes towards blood donation among the participants, their knowledge levels were insufficient, highlighting the critical need for continued education on blood donation.

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