Hong Kong young people's blood donation behavior

Introduction: Similar to other developed countries, only 3% of the total population in Hong Kong donate blood (Hong Kong Red Cross Blood Transfusion Service 2003). More than 20% of annual donations come from youngsters aged 18-25. However, this category of donors has decreased gradually from 24.6% in 2004 to 22.9% in 2008. This study aims to examine the characteristics and intention of young blood donors versus nondonors in Hong Kong; and to explore the factors that may influence Hong Kong young people's donation behavior. Materials and Methods: This is a cross-sectional study using questionnaire to solicit information from young people including both blood donors and non-donors. Results: It showed that more non-donors were underweight (26%) than blood donors (16.9%). Blood donors demonstrated to have more knowledge on the usage of donated blood (87.2%). Nearly half of youngster admitted that they made use of donation as a means for blood testing (53.1%) or free physical check-up (47.3%). Conclusions: Recruitment strategies should focus on the enhancement of health education programs related to blood and blood donation for young people to increase their awareness of blood and alleviate their misconceptions about blood donation.