Awareness of blood group and blood donation among medical students.

BACKGROUND: Transfusion of blood-derived products is often used as a life-saving treatment, and being a blood donor should be common, especially among medical professionals. Thus, an awareness of one's own blood type in medical students should be common. Our aim was to assess if students of the Medical University of Warsaw know their blood type and how many of them are registered blood donors.

MATERIAL AND METHODS: A survey was conducted in a group of 1121 students. The survey included questions addressing awareness of the students' blood type, the frequency of blood types in Poland, being a blood donor, and willingness to become a blood donor.

RESULTS: Of all students, 86.8% knew their blood type and 13.2% did not. Approximately 30.2% of students in the survey declared that they are blood donors, 57.9% had only considered becoming a blood donor and 11.9% had not even considered becoming a blood donor. Of all non-donors, 48.2% had contraindications to becoming a blood donor, 11.5% were afraid of blood collection and 21.9% did not have time to register as a blood donor. Most students (81%) declared that they could become a blood donor if someone closely-related needed a transfusion, and 5.2% declared that there is nothing that could force them to become a blood donor.

CONCLUSION: Compared to Polish society medical students are significantly more aware of the necessity of blood donation. The majority know their blood type, but they do not know what is the most common blood type in Poland.