Perspectives and insight of Al-Baha city population toward blood donation after pandemics: knowledge, attitude, and practice

Background: Blood donation is a crucial medical procedure that saves lives, particularly for patients needing transfusions due to surgery, trauma, or illness. While it also benefits donors by enhancing blood circulation and lowering the risk of certain diseases, recent pandemics, especially coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), have significantly affected blood donation rates. Fear of infection and the implementation of strict health protocols have deterred many potential donors, leading to a shortage of available blood for patients in need. Ensuring safety during donations, such as sterilization of equipment and social distancing, is vital. This study aims to assess the awareness and perceptions of blood donation among the Saudi Arabian population in the aftermath of the pandemic. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in 2023 on the Saudi population. An online survey was used to reach out to various population categories. The total sample size for the current study was 203 participants. Descriptive statistics were used to calculate frequencies and percentages for categorical variables and to obtain means and standard deviations for continuous variables. The scores of knowledge, attitudes, and practices were dichotomized using the mean as cutoff points. The aim of the study is to assess the population's perspectives and insights toward blood donation after the pandemic in relation to their knowledge, attitudes, and practices. Results: The mean age of the study population was 27.36 +/- 5.57 (range, 20-60) years. Although 88.2% of participants showed a positive attitude towards donating blood after the pandemic, 59.1% were afraid of acquiring the COVID-19 infection during blood donation, as they believed that the COVID-19 virus can be transmitted through blood. The overall knowledge, attitude, and practice scores were satisfactory regarding blood donation after the pandemic; however, the majority of participants needed rehabilitation courses to explain the mechanism of blood donation and the precautions to prevent infectious diseases. This was confirmed by a significant association between knowledge (P=0.16) and attitude (P=0.44) with practice. Conclusions: The knowledge, attitudes, and practices scores were satisfactory among the participants. All participants had good knowledge about blood donation after the pandemic, but the majority needed rehabilitation courses to explain the mechanism of blood donation and the precautions to prevent infectious diseases.