R.S. Chauhan

A study to assess the knowledge, attitude, and practices about blood donation among medical students of a medical college in North India

Introduction: Scarcity of blood and blood products is frequently encountered in health care institutions. Medical students can serve as an important pool of potential blood donors for the attached teaching hospitals. Aim: To determine the knowledge, attitude and practices (KAP) of medical students about voluntary blood donation. Settings and Design: It was a cross- sectional study conducted among medical students of Dr RPGMC Tanda in Himachal Pradesh, in the months of August to December, 2015. Material and Methods: All the students present on the day of the survey who expressed their consent for participation were enrolled in the study. A pre- tested, structured questionnaire was used as a study tool. After the collection of the baseline information, a brief interactive awareness session, addressing voluntary blood donation was organized for the participants and their willingness to donate blood was again noted at the conclusion of the session. The data was analyzed by using SPSS software. Results: 235 students participated in the study, 102 (43.4%) males and 133 (56.5%) females. The mean age was 20.42 ±1.38 years. Knowledge of Voluntary Blood Donation: The mean knowledge score of participants was 74.4%. Overall 225 (95.7%) participants were aware of their blood groups. Attitude related to blood donation: 91% study participants felt that people should donate blood and were themselves willing to donate blood. Practice Relating to Blood Donation: Out of the 235 study participants, only 54(22.9%) had donated blood so far. Willingness to donate blood after interactive awareness session increased from 91% to 97.5%. Conclusion: The study population has relatively good knowledge and a favourable attitude about voluntary blood donation. However the prevalence of blood donation among the students is still low, especially among the girls.

A comment on assessment and comparison of pregnancy outcome among anaemic and nonanaemic primigravida mothers

Sir, I read the article, “Assessment and comparison of pregnancy outcome among anaemic and nonanaemic primigravida mothers,”[1] with great interest. It was a hospital-based study conducted to assess the impact of anemia on course and outcome of pregnancy in anemic (hemoglobin 8–10.9 g%) and nonanemic primigravidae. The study is very valuable as it addresses the important issue of anemia in pregnancy which is an important public health concern in India. However, I have the following concerns regarding this study: 1. In this study, a nonprobability purpose sampling methodology was used for sample selection. However, it is not mentioned whether matching was done while selecting the participants for the two groups (anemic and nonanemic). How have the authors accounted for potential confounders is not clear 2. The authors have mentioned a lack of bias as a strength of the study. This statement appears unreasonable especially in view of the nonprobability sampling methodology adopted, the absence of matching and blinding in the study design. All these factors can potentially bias the study results and introduce different types of bias such as sample selection bias, information bias, and confounding bias in the study 3. The authors conclude that mild to moderate anemic pregnant women can have a similar outcome as a normal pregnancy if anemia is detected early in pregnancy and “appropriate care” is given. However, what appropriate care was given and how it differed between the anemic versus nonanemic mothers have not been mentioned. This information is also vital because it will determine the generalizability of the study findings to the community setting. In my opinion, therapeutic protocol should have been elaborated upon. Financial support and sponsorship Nil.