Unknown, so also unvalued? Blood donation awareness and attitudes of potential donors of Dutch and African descent
Klinkenberg,Elisabeth F. Fransen,Mirjam P. de Kort,Wim L.A.M. Huis in ’t Veld,Elisabeth M.J. van Weert,Julia C.M.
Klinkenberg,Elisabeth F.
Fransen,Mirjam P.
de Kort,Wim L.A.M.
Huis in ’t Veld,Elisabeth M.J.
van Weert,Julia C.M.
Abstract
Background and objectives: Many Western countries face a shortage of African blood donors, while their specific blood groups are needed to transfuse chronic transfusion patients of similar ethnic background. Blood donation awareness and attitudes greatly impact the decision to become a blood donor, but how they are related and differ across ethnic groups is understudied. This study investigated blood donation awareness and attitudes of individuals of Dutch and African descent in the Netherlands. Materials and methods: Survey data of 257 African and 152 Dutch non-donors measuring donation awareness (i.e. being familiar with the Dutch blood bank organization and knowing others who donated blood), cognitive (evaluative judgements) and affective (emotional reactions) attitudes were included. t-Tests, chi-square tests, linear and logistic regressions were conducted to study differences and associations between donation awareness and attitudes. Results: African individuals were less often aware of the Dutch blood bank organization (43%; p < 0·05) or others who donated blood (51%; p < 0·05) than Dutch individuals (55% and 68%, respectively). African individuals had lower cognitive donation attitudes compared with Dutch individuals (p < 0·001), but no differences were found for affective attitudes (p = 0·55). High donation awareness was associated with higher cognitive (p < 0·001) and affective (p < 0·05) donation attitudes among African minorities, but not among Dutch individuals. Conclusion: The lower donation awareness and cognitive attitudes of African minorities should be taken into consideration in donor recruitment. Raising awareness through effective communication strategies might be essential in the donor decision making process of this target group.
Description
Funding Information: This work was support by Sanquin Research under the internal grant: PPOC‐14‐25. We thank all participants for their contribution to this study. JvW and EK conceived the initial idea of the research. EK, MF and EHitV designed the survey. EK led the survey data collection, conducted the analyses and wrote the manuscript, while MF, WdK, EHitV and JvW critically reviewed and revised the manuscript. Publisher Copyright: © 2020 The Authors. Vox Sanguinis published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of International Society of Blood Transfusion Copyright: Copyright 2020 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
Date
2021
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Research Projects
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Keywords
donor motivation, donor recruitment, donors
Citation
Klinkenberg, E F, Fransen, M P, de Kort, W L A M, Huis in ’t Veld, E M J & van Weert, J C M 2021, 'Unknown, so also unvalued? Blood donation awareness and attitudes of potential donors of Dutch and African descent', Vox Sanguinis, vol. 116, no. 5, pp. 513-523. https://doi.org/10.1111/vox.13029
License
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess