INTRODUCTION:

Blood is universally recognized as the most precious elements that sustain life. It saves innumerable lives across the world in a variety of conditions.¹ In spite of extensive efforts and a number of blood donation programmes being organized worldwide; the availability of blood still remains short to meet the increase demand for it. The WHO advocate that 3-5% of population should donate blood every year; this would be the ideal rate for maintaining a country’s stock of blood and blood product at acceptable level.² Unfortunately, 83% of global population who lives in developing countries have access to only 40% of blood supplied and this blood in 60% of the cases is collected from paid and replacement blood donors rather than from voluntary, non-remunerated low risk donor.³

While there is a need of about 8.5 million units of blood annually India is able to collect only 4.4 million units of which only about 52% are from voluntary blood donors.⁴ Many people in developing countries are faced with ignorance, misperception and fear about the blood donation process, which result in a limited no of voluntary blood donors.⁵

Lack of knowledge fear, facilities, convenience and the quality of services are common factors in people’s decision on whether to donate blood repeatedly on a voluntary basis⁶.The first blood bank was established in Kolkata, West Bengal in March 1942 at the All India Institute of Hygiene and Public Health and was managed by the Red Cross.Blood is the precious gift that anyone can give to another person-the gift of life. A decision to donate blood can save a life, or even several if blood is separated into its components-red cells, platelets and plasma-which can be used individually for patients with specific conditions.Many people believe that blood donation is harmful for their body, however, this is untrue. Blood donation is definitely a noble act. Many clinics and hospitals constantly require blood for several purposes. This makes the idea of blood donation a noble gesture as it provides life-saving help to people and patients. Any donor, who is healthy, fit and not suffering from any transmittable diseases can donate blood. Donors must be 18 -60 years of age and having a minimum weight of 50Kg can donate blood. Donor’s Hemoglobin level is 12.5% minimum.⁷ India faced a 10 per cent shortage in its estimated blood requirement in 2015-16, an improvement from the 17 per cent shortfall reported in 2013-14, government data says. The estimated requirement is around 1.2 crore units per annum.

In 2015-16, blood collection through various sources, including blood donation camps, was 1.1 crore units-a shortage of 11.5 lakh units, according to data released by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. The availability of blood is also sharply skewed. While Delhi had a surplus of 233 per cent in available blood units, Bihar faced an 85 per cent shortage-the State had just 1.6 lakh units available against a demand of 10.3 lakh units per annum-the Ministry said in response to a question in Parliament. Data show that 16 States (including Union Territories) faced a shortage while 18 States had sufficient or excess of blood units. However, the availability of blood units had improved from 2013-14 when a shortage of 17 per cent was recorded. The shortage was 21 lakh units in 2013-14. Sikkim, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Uttaranchal and West Bengal moved from a deficit in 2013-14 to a surplus in 2015-16. For instance, Sikkim had a 19 per cent shortage in 2013-14. However, in 2015-16, blood unit availability improved by around 22 percentage points, with a surplus of 2.6 per cent.

Indeed, understanding blood donors are motivation is crucial to improve the effectiveness of donor recruitment and retention programmes ⁸. Keeping these facts in mind, the knowledge about voluntary blood donation among adolescent students was assessed.

Problem statement:

A Descriptive study to assess the Knowledge regarding Voluntary Blood Donation among the Adolescent Students in a selected higher secondary school of Gurugram, Haryana

OBJECTIVES:

1. To assess the knowledge of adolescent students regarding voluntary blood donation.

2. To find out the association between the knowledge of adolescents with the selected demographic variables.

Research hypotheses:

H0: There will be no significant association between knowledge and selected demographic variables of adolescent students.

Sampling Criteria:

Inclusion Criteria:

This study includes the adolescent students who were:

· Studying in Govt. Senior Secondary School.

· Present at the time of data collection.

· Has given consent to participate in the study.

Exclusion criteria–

This study exclude the adolescent students:

· Those who were on medical leave

· Those who were not fulfilling the inclusion criteria.

MATERIAL AND METHODS:

Research Approach: Quantitative research approach was used for the present study.

Research Design: The design selected for the study was one group pre-test research design.

Setting:

The study was conducted in Government Senior Secondary School, Dhankot, Gurugram, Haryana.

Population:

In the present study population consisted of all the adolescent students of Government Sr. Sec. School, Dhankot, Gurugram, Haryana.

Sample and Sample size:

The sample was comprised of 60 adolescent students studying in the Govt. Sr. Sec. School who fulfilled inclusion criteria

Sampling Technique:

Purposive sampling technique was used for the present study.

RESULTS:

SECTION- 1

Socio- Demographic characteristic of study participants

Table 1: Frequency and Percentage Distribution of Demographic variables among adolescent students N=60

S. No

Demographic Variables

Frequency

(%)

AGE:

a) 15 years

b) 16 years

c) 17 years

18.33%

36.66%

45%

GENDER:

a) Male

b) Female

38.33%

61.67%

RELIGION:

a) Hindu

b) Muslim

c)Sikh& Christian

d)Others

NIL

93.33%

6.67%

NIL

AREA:

a) Rural

b) Urban

70%

30%

Educational Status:

a) Primary

b) Secondary

3.37%

96.63%

Parental

socio-economic status:

a) Lower class

b) Middle class

c) Higher class

33.34%

56.66%

10%

Data presented in Table 1 reveals the frequency and percentage distribution of characteristics of the demographic variables among adolescent students of higher secondary school.

According to Age, it was revealed that majority (45%) adolescent students were of 17 years followed by (36.66%) were of 16 years and (18.33%) were 15 years old.

According to Gender, majority (61.67%) are the female students followed by (38.33%) are the male students. According to Religion, majority (93.33%) are belongs to the Hindu family, followed (6.67%) are Muslims while there was no Sikhs and Christians.

According to the Residential Area, majority (70%) adolescent students belongs to the rural area followed by (30%) belongs to the urban area.

According to the Educational Status, majority (96.63%) are secondary students followed by only (3.37%) are of primary.

According to the Parental Socio-Economic Status, majority (56.66%) adolescent students are belongs to the middle class followed by lower class students (33.34%) followed by (10%) adolescent students of high class.

SECTION ll:

Knowledge on voluntary blood donation among adolescent students of higher secondary school.

Table 2: Frequency and percentage distribution of the knowledge score on blood donation among adolescents of higher secondary school. N=60

S. No	Level of knowledge	Range	Frequency	(%)
1.	Poor knowledge	0-10	14	23.33
2.	Average knowledge	11-20	42	70.0
3.	Good knowledge	21-30	4	6.67
	Total		60	100.0

Data presented in Table 2 depicts that majority (70%) of adolescent students have average knowledge followed by (23.33%) of adolescent students have poor knowledge and (6.67%) of adolescent students have good knowledge.

NURSING IMPLICATIONS:

Nursing education:

1. As a nurse educator there are abundant opportunities for nursing professionals to educate the health care professionals & patient’s care givers regarding blood donation.

2. School curriculum should be up to dated so that the knowledge of student must be adequate.

Nursing service:

1. Nurses are the key person of the health team, who play a major role in the health promotion and maintenance. The general public can also be made aware about the importance of blood donation.

2. By providing the facilities the community health nurses and school health nurses can impart knowledge to adolescent students about voluntary blood donation.

Nursing research:

1. This study helps the nurse researcher to develop appropriate health education tools for educating regarding blood donation.

2. The study will motivate the beginners to conduct same study with different socio-demographic variables on large scale. The public and private agencies should also encourage research in this field through materials and funds.

Nursing administration:

1. Nurse administrator may use the study findings to improve the quality of knowledge. The concept of extended role of nurse offers many opportunities for a nurse administrator to improve the knowledge of voluntary blood donation.

RECOMMENDATIONS:

1. Based on the findings of the study following recommendations are offered for future research:

2. A comparative study may be conducted to compare the knowledge of adolescent boys and girls regarding voluntary blood donation.

3. A comparative study may be conducted to compare the knowledge of adolescents living in urban and rural areas.

4. A study may be conducted to assess the effectiveness of structured teaching program regarding voluntary blood donation among adolescent students.

CONCLUSION:

This study concludes that majority of the adolescent students have average knowledge regarding voluntary blood donation as assessed by structured questionnaire regarding voluntary blood donation. This study also signifies that knowledge of adolescent students was independent of demographic variables i.e. age, gender, religion, area, educational status and parental socio-economic status. The present study also shows that there is a strong need for IEC (Information Education Communication) activities in the community area.

DISCUSSION:

Uregesa k, Haseen N. (2016) conducted a study to assess the knowledge, attitude and practice regarding voluntary blood donation among adult residents of Harar town, Eastern Ethiopia. A cross-sectional study was conducted on 845 adults who were randomly selected. The data was analyzed using STATA method. The results of the study show that majority 43.5% adults have comprehensive knowledge.

Prabhuswami Hiremath (2012) was also conducted a similar study to assess the knowledge of blood donation among voluntary blood donors blood bank, Krishna Hospital Karad, Maharashtra. A sample of 100 was selected by Non Probability Convenient Sampling Technique. A descriptive survey design was used for the study. The data was collected through Structure Questionnaire on blood donation. The result of the study shows that the majority 56% have the average knowledge.

In the present research study majority (70%) of the adolescent students have average knowledge regarding voluntary blood donation. Chi-square value between the knowledge score and demographic factor like age, gender, religion, area, educational status and parental socio-economic status was found to be statistically non-significant at 0.05 level of significance.

REFERENCES:

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10. Prabhuswami Hiremath (2012). To Assess the Knowledge of Blood Donation among Voluntary Blood Donor at Blood Bank, Krishna Hospital Karad (Maharashtra, India), Journal of Nursing Care. Available from Url: https://www.omicsonline.org/open-access/to-assess-the-knowledge-of-blood-donation-among-voluntary-blood-donor-at-blood-bank-2167-1168.1000124.php? aid=10707

Received on 20.11.2019 Modified on 10.12.2019

Int. J. Nur. Edu. and Research. 2020; 8(1): 91-94.

DOI: 10.5958/2454-2660.2020.00018.6