Junior and Senior Medical Technology students' willingness towards Blood donation during the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

A significant gap is seen between willingness to donate blood and the effect of the COVID-19 in blood donation. Individual’s willingness to donate blood helps in providing adequate blood supply to patients who are suffering from various diseases especially during this time. The study determined the impact of the factors that influence the Junior and Senior Medical Technology students’ willingness to perform blood donation and their willingness to donate blood during the COVID-19 pandemic. At least 292 Medical Technology students in the university who meet the inclusion requirements are invited to participate in the study on purpose. An online survey questionnaire through Google Forms was distributed among the respondents. Descriptive statistics, Pearson’s correlation Beta coefficient, and a 95% confidence interval was utilized to statistically assess the responses. The results of the study showed that around 79% of respondents say they would be willing to donate blood during the pandemic. And the results also showed a significant relationship between the percentage of willingness to donate blood and the level of knowledge towards blood donation. Only two out of the six factors were considered significant namely altruism & social responsibility, and access to health communication. In conclusion, the willingness to donate blood during the COVID-19 was significantly affected by the 2 specific factors: those being altruism and social responsibility, and access to health communication. It is recommended that the insignificant factors could play more important roles in another study in terms of affecting an individual’s willingness to donate blood.