Abstract:

AIMWe aimed to evaluate the knowledge and attitude of the students of a school of health services towards blood donation.METHODSThe study was conducted in Kars School of Health Services between March and May 2009. We used a questionnaire developed after a literature review that aimed to assess socio-demographic characteristics (18 items), knowledge and attitude (34 items) of the students towards blood donation. 291 (83.14% of total) students participated in the study. The data was evaluated using descriptive analysis.RESULTSThe blood donation rate (12%) of the participants was over the Turkish average (1.5%). Most of the students were considering future donation (61.5%), however 17.2% of them were not suitable for donation because of various health problems. Most of the participants’ knowledge about blood donation was considered intermediate.CONCLUSIONSchool of Health Services students have positive attitudes and practices towards blood donation. However, the donation rates are far from the required levels.

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