International Journal of Current Medical And Applied Sciences, 2015, June, 7(1), 63-66

IJCMAAS,E-ISSN:2321-9335,P-ISSN:2321-9327. Page | 63

Socio-Demographic Profiles of Blood Donors in Bastar Region, Chhattisgarh: A Prospective Study.

Alok kumar1, A. Meshram2 & Baghel R3, Nitin Gangane 4 & V. Jyoti5 1Assistant Professor, 2Professor & Head , 3BBO, Government Medical college, Jagdalpur, Chhattisgarh, India .

4 Director, Professor & Head, 5 Under Graduate Student, MGIMS, Sewagram, Wardha, Maharashtra, India.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Abstract: Background-Blood donation is important for not only saving people's lives but also for the pursuit of a better social and living environment, and voluntary blood donation is by far the best. Aim-The aim of the study was to identify the socio-demographic correlates among blood donors in general population to understand the various factors that can help to plan the change in the perception and awareness about blood donation. Subjects & methods- This was a population-based cross-sectional study, conducted in the Blood Bank attached to a medical college in Bastar region, Chhattisgarh, India, on 320 blood donors, selected after fulfilling ideal donor screening. By interview technique, using the pre-tested structured close-ended questionnaire, the data were collected and analyzed. Results- In our study we found that number blood donation was more among lesser educated people as compared to higher educated people and most of the donors had not have knowledge about blood components. Conclusion- Most of the blood donors had not have knowledge about blood components in our study. Blood donation was more among urban people compared to the rural people. It might be because of easy accessibility of the donors to the blood bank. Weakness after blood donation is the most common cause that have negative impact on voluntary blood donation followed by fear about blood donation. Major source for motivation among blood donors was self desire to help others followed by Blood donor motivation programme. So extensive implementation of Voluntary blood donor motivation programmes in urban as well as rural area could be crucial in improving effectiveness of donor recruitment and achieve 100% voluntary blood donation. Keywords: Education, socio-demographic factors, blood donation.

Introduction: More than million blood units are collected from donors every year; nevertheless, many more million units of blood are still needed to meet the global demand and ensure sufficient and timely supply of blood [1]. Voluntary donation is by far the best. Thus, the study to understand the various factors that could change the perception and awareness about blood donation among the general population, may be useful for the successful implementation of a blood donation programme, especially in improving the voluntary blood donation

system. Blood donation is important for not only saving people's lives but also for the pursuit of a better social and living environment, and voluntary blood donation is of great social importance. Voluntary non-remunerated blood donations should be promoted, accepted and practiced for safe blood supply [2]. The aim of the study was to identify the socio-demographic correlates among blood donors in general population to understand the various factors that can help to plan the change in the perception and awareness about blood donation.

Address for correspondence: Dr. Alok kumar

Assistant Professor, Department of Pathology, Government Medical college, Jagdalpur, Chhattisgarh, India

Email ID: alokkrlkr@gmail.com

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How to cite this article: Alok kumar,A. Meshram et al , : Socio-Demographic Profiles of Blood Donors in Bastar Region, Chhattisgarh: A Prospective Study.. International Journal of current Medical and Applied sciences; 2015, 7(1), 63-66.

Alok kumar, A. Meshram & Baghel R. , Nitin Gangane & V. Jyoti

IJCMAAS, E-ISSN: 2321-9335,P-ISSN:2321-9327. Page | 64

Material and Methods: This was a population-based cross-sectional study, conducted in the Blood Bank attached to a medical college in Bastar region, Chhattisgarh, India, on 320 blood donors, selected after fulfilling ideal donor screening. The main outcome variables were the socio-demographic variables of knowledge about blood donation. By interview technique, using the pre-tested structured close-ended questionnaire, the data were collected and analyzed. Socio-demographic variables included in our study were age, sex, types of blood donors, education and area of residence in relation to blood donation. The

questionnaire of donors included sociodemographic characteristics in relation to blood donation. All the donors were explained about the study and were ensured strict confidentiality. The verbal informed consents were taken from them before the interview. By interview technique, the data were collected and analyzed with different variables. The interviews were conducted either by the counselor or blood bank officer in the blood bank without knowing others, participating in the study. Inclusion Criteria All donors aged between 18-65 years, after giving verbal consents for interview were included in the study.

Table 1 : Donor’s age group Age (years) No of blood donors 18-22 61 (19.06%) 23-27 94(29.37%) 28-32 83 (25.94%) 32-36 47(14.69%) 36-40 35(10.94%) >40 0 Total 320(100%)

Maximum Blood donors i.e. 94 (29.37%) from 23-27 Age-Group & No one donor from above Age-Group 40 years. Table 2 : Blood Donors profile

Blood donors Total Male Female Voluntary 220 (68.75%) 212 8

Replacement 100 (31.25%) 96 4 Total 320 (100%) 308 12

Majority of donors in our study were volunatary donors constituted 68.75% of all donors as shown in table 2. Table 3 : Demographic profile of blood donors in our study Demography of donors Blood donors Urban 212 (66.25%) Rural 108 (33.75) Total 320 (100%)

Urban donors constituted 66.25 % in our study while rural donors were 33.75 % in our study as shown in Table 3. Table 4: Status of blood donors

Urban Rural Total

First time donors 58 (27.35%) 44 (40.74%) 102 (31.88%)

Repeated donors 49 (23.12%) 25 (23.15%) 74 (23.12%)

Never donated before 105 (49.53) 39 (36.11%) 144 (45.00%)

Total 212 (100%) 108 (100%) 320(100%)

Analysis was done to know the nature of blood donors residing in urban as well as rural areas and it was found that urban donors are donated blood more frequently than rural donors as shown in table 4. Table 5: Donors knowledge about blood donation

Yes No No of Donors Knowledge about blood donation 194(60.60%) 126(39.40%) 320(100%)

Knowledge about blood components

10(3.12%) 310(96.88%) 320(100%)

About 60% of donors had knowledge of blood donation while majority (97%) had no idea of blood components as shown in table 5.

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International Journal of Current Medical And Applied Sciences [IJCMAAS], Volume : 7, Issue:1.

Table 6 : Profiles of donors not donated before Reasons for not donated before No of blood donors No one told to donate 31(21.52%) Fear for blood donation 43 (29.86%) Weakness 46 (31.95%) Transmission of diseases like HIV 24 (16.67%) Total 144 (100%)

Further analysis was done to know the reason why the donors had not donated the blood before and it was found that the fear about blood donation (51.38%) was the most common cause followed by weakness (31.95%). Table 7: Status of blood donors

Type of blood donors Educational qualifications of donors Upto10th class 12th class Graduate Post-graduate First time donated 34 (32.00%) 53(43.44%) 12(15.38%) 3(21.42%) Repeat donors 32 (30.20%) 25(20.50%) 12(15.38%) 5(35.73%) Never donated before 40 (37.80%) 44(36.06%) 54(69.24%) 6(42.85%) Total (320) 106 (100%) 122 (100%) 78(100%) 14(100%)

Analysis was done to know the relation between educational qualification of donors with blood donation and it was found that educational qualification of donors was not significantly associated with blood donation. Table 8: Source of donor motivation for blood donation

Source of motivation No of donors Self (To help others) 106 (33.12%) Friends 76 (23.76%) Relatives 48 (15.00%) Voluntary blood donation motivation programme

90 (28.12%)

Total 320 (100%)

Most common source for donor motivation was donors themselves, constituted about 33% followed by voluntary blood donation motivation programme.

Discussion: The Baltimore study [3] showed that low rates of voluntary blood donation by the donors have been attributed to a variety of socioeconomic, medical and attitudinal factors. Lack of awareness of the need for donation, fear of donating blood related to perceived risk of contracting human immunodeficiency virus and loss of physical vitality after donation have been proposed as potential reasons for ethnic and racial disparities in blood donation. Many earlier studies on the motivation and recruitment of non-donors attempted to determine whether psychological, physical, and educational factors, as well as time lost during the donation would influence their attitude towards blood donation. Prominently, the factors that might discourage individuals from donating blood are fear, risk to health, and physical harm from blood donation, featuring frequently in many studies [4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12] . In Mmabatho, South Africa, donating blood was considered a health risk, and there was uncertainty whether donating blood was safe. [7] In a recent telephone survey of USA Households [5], “fear of hospitals” was one of the major factors negatively associated with prior history of blood donation. Similarly in Tanzania, the fear that blood donation would result in HIV infection and/or could damage

health was a frequent worry expressed by both donors and non-donors [13]. Compared with the above studies, in our study, low rates of voluntary blood donation were due to perceptions of donors about weakness after blood donation, followed by fear about blood donation. Studies idenified that among demographic groups the primary reason to donate blood was altruism (i.e., a general desire to help others such as friends, relatives or those affected by disaster). However, knowledge and awareness of the need for blood in the community was an important motivating factor. The response observed after a national disaster demonstrates that, in those situations, the donors perceive that the benefits associated with giving blood (e.g., knowing that one has helped those affected by a disaster or has performed his or her civic duty) clearly outweigh the costs (i.e., the fear or inconvenience) [14,15,16] . One step in that direction is to ensure that the public and the media are aware of the continuous need for blood and the importance of donating regularly [17]. In our study also, the most common cause for blood donation was having general desire among donors to help others followed by effects of voluntary blood donor motivation programmes. Study [18] done in the United States where it was found that educational level is strong indicator of the probability of someone's donating blood. The

Alok kumar, A. Meshram & Baghel R. , Nitin Gangane & V. Jyoti

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knowledge level and gender do not shown any statistical association in studies done by Wiwanitkit [19] and Vasquez et al.[20]. Contrary to the above studies, we identified blood donation level was more among lesser educated people as compare to higher educated (Chi-Square = 52.8 p-value:0.0000). This may be because of the lesser sample size or more confusion and misconceptions among higher educated people. Geographical variations in residence were found to be significantly associated with blood donation (Chi-Square =6.83 p-value:0.0320) .As the people living in urban or peri-urban areas have more accessibility of blood bank and its facilities compare to rural population. In our study, most of the donors do not have knowledge about blood components.

Conclusion: Most of the blood donors had not knowledge about blood components in our study. Blood donation was more among urban people compared to the rural people. It might be because of easy accessibility of the donors to the blood bank. Weakness after blood donation is the most common cause that have negative impact on voluntary blood donation followed by fear about blood donation. Major source for motivation among blood donors was self desire to help others followed by blood donor motivation programme. So extensive implementation of Voluntary blood donor motivation programmes in urban as well as rural area could be crucial in improving effectiveness of donor recruitment and achieve 100% voluntary blood donation. Limitations of the study: This study evaluated correlations between the blood donation and donor socio-demographics that may influence blood donation. Later this study could not be developed to understand the reasons behind this disparity in knowledge on voluntary blood donation due to resource constraints.

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