[ Evaluation of the attitude of Iranian women towards blood donation]

ABSTRACT

The most important goal of IBTO is to prepare safe and sufficient blood and blood components; thus, the appropriate screening of donors out of low-risk population is significant. It is likely that women population compared with men is at lower risk in regard to high-risk behaviors leading to blood-transmitted infections. However, the donation attempts on part of women compared to men are less frequent. A cross-sectional study was conducted on Iranian female population at the age range of 17-65 in eight provinces of Iran. A questionnaire was prepared. The number of samples was calculated as 12000 using statistical formulas. The sampling method was multi-stage cluster. Finally, the data were analyzed using SPSS 11 statistical software. The age average of women under study was 32.6 +/- 12.1. Most of them were married, housekeeper, and had diploma. 24.1% of them had a record of blood donation while 75.4% never enjoyed such an experience. The educational background and employment rate of women with no blood donation precedent were significantly lower than those with previous history of blood donation [Pwomen's unwillingness to embark no blood donation was considered to be their fear of being infected with infectious and blood-borne diseases. On the whole, 75.2% and 24.8% of women under study showed respectively a negative and positive attitude toward blood donation. Since fear of being infected with infectious and blood-borne diseases out of blood donation is somehow the outcome of the lack of awareness of the public about transfusion medicine; thus, the most significant reason for the lack of donation can be attributed to the lack of knowledge on the part of women regarding transfusion medicine. Based on the findings of the present study, it is recommended that training about the significance of blood donation and women's acceptance criteria for blood donation be promoted extensively through TV and Radio broadcasting