Participants’ characteristics
The study included 1,192 students (633 at baseline and 559 at end-line). The distributions of the students’ sex and access to internet were similar at baseline and end-line (P-Value > 0.05). All the students had ever heard of blood donation at both baseline and end-line. About 65.1% (n = 412) at baseline and 80.1% (n = 448) at end-line obtained information on blood donation from school (Table 1).
Table 1: Characteristics of participants at baseline and end-line
Characteristic
|
Baseline (N = 633)
|
End-line (N = 559)
|
P-Value
|
Frequency (n)
|
Percentage (%)
|
Frequency (n)
|
Percentage (%)
|
Age (mean, SD)
|
18.1 (mean)
|
1.6 (SD)
|
18.9 (mean)
|
2.2 (SD)
|
0.000
|
Sex
|
|
|
|
|
|
Female
|
295
|
46.6
|
254
|
45.4
|
0.687
|
Male
|
338
|
53.4
|
305
|
54.6
|
Academic level
|
|
|
|
|
|
O-level
|
368
|
58.1
|
343
|
62.1
|
0.161
|
A-level
|
265
|
41.9
|
209
|
37.9
|
Location of school
|
|
|
|
|
0.000
|
Rural
|
239
|
37.8
|
292
|
52.2
|
Urban
|
393
|
62.2
|
267
|
47.8
|
Access to internet
|
|
|
|
|
|
No
|
205
|
32.6
|
171
|
32.1
|
0.839
|
Yes
|
423
|
67.4
|
362
|
67.9
|
Received blood donation information from;
|
|
School
|
412
|
65.1
|
448
|
80.1
|
0.000
|
Radio/ TV
|
138
|
21.8
|
229
|
41.0
|
0.000
|
Social media
|
79
|
12.5
|
160
|
28.6
|
0.000
|
Blood bank
|
65
|
10.3
|
132
|
23.6
|
0.000
|
Hospital
|
114
|
18.0
|
202
|
36.1
|
0.000
|
Community campaign
|
65
|
10.3
|
134
|
23.0
|
0.000
|
Friend
|
71
|
11.2
|
179
|
32.0
|
0.000
|
Do you know anyone who donated
|
|
No
|
175
|
27.7
|
89
|
16.2
|
0.000
|
Yes
|
456
|
72.3
|
459
|
83.8
|
Blood donation knowledge and practices
Overall knowledge about blood donation
Overall, the proportion of students who were knowledgeable about blood increased from 28.3% at the baseline to 42.9% during the end-line survey. The chi square test for the difference in the knowledge between baseline and end-line was significant (p-value =0.000). (Figure 1: Overall knowledge score at baseline and end-line)
Knowledge about the different aspects of blood donation
Regarding the knowledge about the various aspects of blood donation, the proportion of students who were knowledgeable about the eligibility criteria for blood donation increased from 143 (28.7%) at baseline to 267 (48.8%) at the end-line, those who were knowledgeable about the benefits of blood donation increased from 201 (32.1%) at baseline to 230 (42.1%) at end-line and those who were knowledgeable about the potential beneficiaries of donated blood increased from 206 (32.9%) to 235 (43.0%). All the chi square tests for the knowledge on the different aspects of blood donation were significant (Figure 2: Knowledge regarding the different aspects of blood donation).
Blood donation knowledge by the location of the schools
The proportion of students who were knowledgeable about blood donation increased from 72 (30.1%) to 110 (37.7%) in the rural schools and from 110 (27.2%) to 130 (48.7%) in the schools located in the urban district. The chi square test was only significant for the schools located in the urban setting (p-value = 0.000).
Factors associated with blood donation knowledge at end-line.
At bivariate analysis, students who had access to internet were more knowledgeable about blood donation at end-line compared to those who didn’t have access to internet [PR= 1.74 (1.27, 2.39), p-value = 0.001]. Regarding the location of school, the students located in urban areas were more knowledgeable about blood donation compared to those in the schools located in rural areas [1.29 (1.00, 1.67), p-value = 0.048]. At multivariate analysis, only access to internet [1.58 (1.14, 2.20), p-value = 0.006) was significantly associated with blood donation knowledge (Table 2).
Table 2: Factors associated with blood donation knowledge at the end-line.
Characteristic
|
Knowledge about blood donation
|
Crude PR (95% CI)
|
P-value
|
Adjusted PR (95% CI)
|
P-value
|
No
n (%)
|
Yes
n (%)
|
Age Group
|
Below 17
|
32 (72.7)
|
12 (27.3)
|
1.00
|
|
1.00
|
0.199
|
Above 17
|
275 (55.0)
|
225 (45.0)
|
1.65 (0.92, 2.95)
|
0.091
|
1.50 (0.81, 2.79)
|
Sex
|
Female
|
153 (60.2)
|
101 (39.8)
|
1.00
|
|
---
|
---
|
Male
|
166 (54.4)
|
139 (45.6)
|
1.15 (0.89, 1.48)
|
0.297
|
Academic level
|
O-level
|
219 (63.9)
|
124 (36.2)
|
1.00
|
|
1.00
|
0.057
|
A-level
|
94 (45.0)
|
115 (55.0)
|
1.52 (1.18, 1.96)
|
0.001
|
1.30 (0.99, 1.71)
|
Location of school
|
Rural
|
182 (62.3)
|
110 (37.7)
|
1.00
|
|
1.00
|
0.267
|
Urban
|
137 (51.4)
|
130 (48.7)
|
1.29 (1.00, 1.67)
|
0.048
|
1.17 (0.89, 1.53)
|
Access to internet
|
No
|
122 (71.4)
|
49 (28.7)
|
1.00
|
|
1.00
|
0.006
|
Yes
|
181 (50.0)
|
181 (50.0)
|
1. (1.27, 2.39)
|
0.001
|
1.58 (1.14, 2.20)
|
Do you know anyone who donated
|
No
|
54 (60.7)
|
35 (39.3)
|
1.0
|
|
---
|
---
|
Yes
|
257 (56.0)
|
202 (44.0)
|
1.12 (0.78, 1.60)
|
0.539
|
Blood donation practices
The proportion of students who donated blood at the end-line (20.8%, n= 114) did not significantly differ from those at the baseline (20.8%, n= 114, X2 P-value = 0.298). Regarding the venues of blood donation, most respondents (77.19%, n=88) mentioned that they had donated from the school donation camps while others mentioned that they had donated from hospitals (22.81%, n=26), blood donation centers (14.04%, n=16) and regional blood banks (0.53%, n=12) at end-line. (Figure 3: Blood donation practices at baseline and end-line).
Reasons for not donating blood.
For those who had not donated, the most commonly mentioned reasons for not donating were; not being eligible (baseline; n=198, 41% and end-line; n = 209, 48.3%), fear of needles (baseline; n=159, 33.0% and end-line; n=106, 24.5%) and not seeing the importance of donating blood (baseline; n = 133, 13.9 and end-line; n=68, 15.7%). The chi-square tests showed that there was a difference between the proportion of students who feared of needles and those who were no eligible to donate at baseline and end-line (Figure 4: Reasons for not donating blood at end-line).
Factors associated with blood donation practices.
At bivariate analysis, students who knew someone who had ever donated were more likely to donate blood compared to those who did not know anyone who had donated blood [PR = 5.30 (1.96, 14.39), p-value = 0.002]. Regarding access to internet, the students who had access to internet were more likely to donate at end-line compared those who did not have access to internet [PR = 5.30 (1.96, 14.39), p-value = 0.001]. At multivariate analysis, only those who knew someone who had ever donated blood were more likely to donate blood [PR = 4.85 (1.78, 13.19), p-value = 0.002] (Table 3).
Table 3: Factors associated with blood donation practices at end-line
Characteristic
|
Ever donated blood
|
Crude PR (95% CI)
|
P-value
|
Adjusted PR (95% CI)
|
P-value
|
No
n (%)
|
Yes
n (%)
|
Age Group
|
Below 17
|
39 (92.9)
|
3 (7.1)
|
1.00
|
|
1.00
|
0.136
|
Above 17
|
385 (78.1)
|
108 (21.9)
|
3.07 ( 0.97, 9.66)
|
0.056
|
2.42 (0.76, 7.71)
|
Sex
|
Female
|
205 (82.3)
|
44 (17.7)
|
1.00
|
|
1.00
|
0.559
|
Male
|
228 (76.5)
|
70 (23.5)
|
1.33 (0.91, 1.94)
|
0.139
|
1.13 (0.76, 1.68)
|
Academic level
|
O-level
|
274 (81.8)
|
61 (18.2)
|
1.00
|
|
1.00
|
0.201
|
A-level
|
153 (74.3)
|
53 (25.7)
|
1.41 (0.98, 2.04)
|
0.066
|
1.29 (0.87, 1.90)
|
Location of school
|
Rural
|
228 (80.0)
|
57 (20.0)
|
1.00
|
|
|
---
|
Urban
|
205 (78.2)
|
57 (21.8)
|
1.09 (0.75, 1.57)
|
0.653
|
---
|
Access to internet
|
No
|
147 (86.0)
|
24 (14.0)
|
1.00
|
|
1.00
|
0.196
|
Yes
|
268 (75.7)
|
86 (24.3)
|
1.73 (1.10, 2.72)
|
0.017
|
1.37 (0.85, 2.19)
|
Knowledge about blood donation
|
No
|
352 (78.2)
|
98 (21.8)
|
1.00
|
|
|
|
Yes
|
130 (72.6)
|
49 (27.4)
|
1.01 (0.70, 1.47)
|
0.940
|
---
|
---
|
Do you know anyone who donated
|
No
|
83 (95.4)
|
4 (4.6)
|
1.00
|
|
1.00
|
0.002
|
Yes
|
341 (75.6)
|
110 (24.4)
|
5.30 (1.96, 14.39)
|
0.001
|
6.09 (1.93, 19.24)
|