Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices of Blood Donation Among Medical Students: A Systematic Review Across Nine Countries

Blood donation is the best source of blood in emergencies and improves others' lives. Globally, 118.54 million blood donations occur annually, with 31.5 donations per 1,000 people in high-income countries compared to 16.4 in upper-middle-income and 5 in low-income countries. The WHO (world Health Organization) insists that countries focus on young people to achieve 100% non-remunerated voluntary blood donation (VBD). Therefore, university students are good candidates for blood donation. This review provides a better understanding of the current status of blood donation among medical students. This review systematically searched international databases (PubMed, Scopus, EMBASE, Web of Science, and Google Scholar) with relevant English studies published in English from 2000 to April 2024. study characteristics (study ID, location, study design, sampling techniques, and university), main outcome measures, and findings were extracted.We included 39 cross-sectional Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice (KAP) studies across nine countries involving 13,895 medical students. Most studies were conducted in India. all studies used different self-administrated tools to collect data. Most of the studies had fair to good quality. Positive attitudes varied widely (42%-92.6%), with the highest rates among Indian students and the lowest among Pakistani students. Donation rates ranged from 1–74%, with Nigerian students demonstrating the highest rates. This review, which analyzed 39 cross-sectional KAP studies from nine countries involving 13,895 medical students, found that most students exhibited moderate levels of knowledge, attitudes, and practices regarding blood donation. To bridge this gap, policymakers must prioritize VBD awareness campaigns, and institutions should facilitate donation opportunities and incentivize participation among medical students.