Beliefs, motivations and barriers in young Mexican blood donors and non-donors

Abstract

Objective: To describe the perception of beliefs, motivations and barriers to blood donation in young Mexican donors and non-donors.

Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted with the participation of 266 young people aged 18 to 25 years, who responded through the Internet to the questionnaire on determinants of blood donation in first-time donors to assess perceptions, motivations and barriers to blood donation. The questionnaire was disseminated through social networks and was online from August 2023 to March 2024. IBM SPSS Statistics 29 was used for the descriptive analysis of the study variables.

Results: Both donors and non-donors reported a more favorable perception of the importance of donation to save lives and that it is helpful to detect if one has a disease. Regarding the most important motivations in both groups, it was found that they would donate blood if friends and/or relatives needed it and if donating meant that it would be available in the future for their loved ones and for themselves. In relation to barriers in both groups, not donating unless asked, not having enough time, as well as long lines, were the most predominant. With the intention of making them recurrent donors within the barriers of first-time donors, lack of time and not donating blood unless asked were detected.

Conclusions: Despite a greater number of positive beliefs towards blood donation in young people there is still a lack of knowledge about some specific aspects of blood donation, which represents an area of opportunity for advertising campaigns and programs that encourage blood donation, as well as the return of donors.

Keywords: blood donors; beliefs; motivations; barriers; youth;