Evaluating the effect of targeted knowledge sharing on blood donation awareness and practices among secondary school students: A quasi-experimental study in Eastern Uganda

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However, students are hesitant to donate blood due to inadequate knowledge and misinformation. During the COVID 19 lockdown in Uganda, blood stock outs reached a critical level emphasizing the need to build awareness among potential donors. We packaged, shared and evaluated the effect of context appropriate information, education and communication materials on blood donation in order to increase awareness and blood donation practices among secondary school students. Methods: We conducted a single group before and after study among students in four secondary schools in Jinja and Mayuge district. First, we conducted a baseline survey to assess the students’ knowledge, willingness and blood donation practices. We then shared information, education and communication materials both virtually and in print (i.e., videos, blogs and fact sheets) on the different aspects of blood donation with the students. After three months we conducted an end-line survey to determine if there was change in knowledge and practices from baseline to end-line. Data were entered using Microsoft Access and analysed in STATA 14. Results: We included 1,192 students. The proportion of students who were knowledgeable about blood donation significantly increased from 28.3% at the baseline to 42.9% at end-line (X 2 p-value = 0.000). However, there was no significant difference in the proportion of students who donated blood at baseline and end-line (23.4% at baseline and 20.4% at end-line, X 2 p-value = 0.298). Factors associated with knowledge about blood donation at end-line included level of education [PR=1.37 (1.05, 1.79), p-value = 0.019] and access to internet [PR=1.61 (1.61, 2.24), p-value = 0.004]. Those who knew someone who had ever donated blood were more likely to donate blood at end-line [PR = 4.85 (1.78, 13.19), p-value = 0.002]. Conclusion: Using contextually relevant and age-appropriate ICE materials increases awareness about blood donation in secondary schools. Use of champions (former donors) and appropriate channels for communication such as online platforms and former donors can enhance awareness. A prolonged period of awareness creation and opportunities to donate is required to demonstrate change in donation practices. Communication strategies blood donation knowledge and students Figures Figure 1 Figure 2 Figure 3 Figure 4 Introduction The importance of applying research-based evidence to inform health practices globally is indisputable[1]. However, efforts to achieve this have mostly focussed on generating evidence for upstream policy and decision making. As such, knowledge translation (KT) strategies have increasingly evolved to meet the needs of policy makers and not adequately focussed on applying evidence at the level of the health service beneficiary. Knowledge brokering (KB) is a knowledge translation approach that connects existing evidence to those individuals, groups or networks most likely to use it by interpreting, adapting and packaging evidence to audiences, contexts and experiences so that it can influence action [2]. Blood donation is a practice majorly driven by knowledge and awareness. Evidence shows that blood donation campaigns and the use of past blood donors and influencers are interventions that increase blood donation awareness and practice[3].This study adopted a school based information, education and communication (IEC) campaign toevaluate the effect of targeted knowledge sharing on blood donation awareness and practices among secondary school students. Blood is a life-saving component during childbirth, surgeries and managing medical illnesses such as anemia, chemotherapy and replacing lost blood during road traffic accidents [1, 2]. Maintaining a safe and adequate blood supply is key in attaining positive outcomes of patients in both emergent and non-emergent situations [4]. Therefore, blood transfusion from donors is an indispensable part of modern health care [5]. Despite this, developing countries collect less than half of the blood that they need to meet the growing transfusion requirements due to the increasing prevalence of accidents, pregnancy and childbirth, as well as other medical conditions [6,7]. Uganda, one of the developing country needs approximately 450,000 units of blood per year to be used in the treatment of about 29% people with severe malaria, 17% with sickle cell anemia, 15% patients with cancer and also help in performing surgical procedures [8]. However, the Uganda Blood Transfusion Services (UBTS) collects only approximately 275,000 units yearly, collecting under 1,000 units per day due to challenges ranging from access to funding and logistics, limited staffing, and infrastructural challenges, among others [9]. Other factors affecting blood donation include; personal factors such as fear of needles/ pricks [9] and feeling dizzy [10], lack of time for blood donation [11] and donors’ lack of information about their physical conditions for blood donation eligibility [12]. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), to meet the requirements for blood, 1% of the population needs to donate blood [13]. Although anyone aged between 17 and 60 years can donate blood as long as they are in good health, in Uganda, students are the biggest blood donors contributing to 95% of donors in the country, and their absence during the COVID-19 lockdown affected blood donation [13–16]. Additionally, this population is available, less mobile and mostly healthy as required of a blood donor. However, school goers are hesitant to donate blood due to inadequate knowledge about the eligibility criteria for donating blood, the importance of blood donation and the end use of donated blood[17] . Fortunately, studies have showed positive effect of education interventions on the knowledge and later the decision of blood donation [18,19]. Despite this, not so many interventions have been implemented in secondary schools to improve blood donation awareness in Uganda. We therefore employed contextually appropriate communication strategies such as videos, blogs, fact sheets to increase awareness and blood donation practices among secondary school students in Uganda. Methods Study design This study employed a quasi-experimental study design. We conducted a single group before and after study. First, we conducted a baseline survey so as to assess the students’ awareness, knowledge and practices about blood donation. We then shared IEC materials (videos, fact sheets and blogs) as KT tools that were intended to ensure that evidence about blood donation reached the students who were our key stakeholders. Thereafter we conducted an end-line survey to assess the change in students’ knowledge and practices about blood donation. Study area, population, sampling approach and study tools The study was conducted in four schools in Eastern Uganda (i.e. two schools in Jinja and two schools in Mayuge districts). The two study districts were purposively selected i.e. Jinja to represent an urban district and Mayuge to represent a rural district. At district level, we worked with the district education officers to purposively select two secondary schools within each district to represent a highly populated and low populated school. By the time we conducted the baseline survey, only senior three, four, five and six students were present at school. The students in senior four and six were preparing for their national exams and therefore were excluded from the study. We included only senior three and five students for the baseline survey. We conducted the end-line in the next academic year and the students had been promoted to the next class (i.e. the students who were in senior three at baseline had been promoted to senior four while those who were in senior five had been promoted to senior six). In order to maintain the same study population, we included senior four and senior six students in the end-line. In the Ugandan education grading system, the students in senior three and four are considered to be in ordinary level (O-level) while those in senior five and six are in advanced level (A-level) For both the baseline and end-line survey, census sampling was used to recruit the students. At each schools, we called for an assembly were we informed the students about the study, its voluntary nature, purpose and procedures. All the interested students were given self-administered questionnaires. The questionnaire collected information on socio-demographics characteristics, knowledge and practices about blood donation. The questionnaire was pre-tested among 30 secondary students from a school located in Kampala, district prior to data collection. The data from the pre-test were not included in the final analysis but was used to inform adjustments in the tool. Description of the intervention Development and implementation of the intervention For this study, we reviewed and packaged contextually appropriate IEC materials for school going students covering content on blood donation including; the situation of blood shortages in Uganda, the benefits of blood donation, experiences of blood donors, self-care after donating and eligibility for donating blood. A medical officer, who was part to the study team developed five fact sheets, five blogs and scripts for the five videos and these were reviewed by a KT expert to ensure that they were appropriate, give the local context and targeted population. We hired an infographic designer to design the print IEC materials and two videographers to produce the different videos. Each IEC material had a link to the website containing all the IEC materials. Four of the five videos were in English while one was in Lusoga (the commonest local language in Eastern Uganda). To cater for those who did not understand the Lusoga language, we added English subtitles to the Lusoga video. Each video was about 5 to 10 minutes long. All the factsheets and blogs were in the English Language and were utmost two pages long with a number of infographics so as to attract the readers’ attention. The intervention (which involved sharing IEC materials with the students) was launched after the baseline survey. At each school, we held an assembly with students where we showed all the five videos. We then selected champions (previous blood donors) who were given a package of printed IEC materials so that they could improve their knowledge and educate others. The champions were selected with the help of the teachers and were given T-shirts as an incentive to spread blood donation awareness among their colleagues. In each school, a teacher was tasked with sharing the videos monthly for a period of three months. The videos were played during the school entertainment sessions. The research team made visits to the school every two weeks to check if the intervention was being implemented as planned. At the end of the three months we did the post intervention survey in the same schools. Study variables The outcome variables for this study included knowledge and blood donation practices whereas the independent variables included; age, sex, academic level, location of school, access to internet and knowing someone who has ever donated. For this study, we categorized age into two categories i.e. below 17 years of age and 17 years and above since one has to be 17years of age to be eligible to donate blood. This categorization there enables us to compare of the knowledge and blood donation practices of ineligible respondent and eligible respondents. Assessment of knowledge and blood donation practices Knowledge was assessed using three questions (i.e. knowledge about the eligibility criteria for blood donation, knowledge about the benefits of blood donation and knowledge about the potential beneficiaries of blood donation). Each respondent was scored “1” for a correct response and 0 for an incorrect response. We then computed an overall knowledge score by obtaining the sum of knowledge score for all the three aspects of blood donation. The participants who scored at least 2/3 in the overall knowledge assessment were deemed knowledgeable while those who scored less than 2/3 were regarded not to be knowledgeable about blood donation. Blood donation practices were assessed using one question. The respondents were asked if they had ever donated blood prior to the survey. The responses were coded “1” for “ever donated” and “0’ for “never donated”. Data Management and analysis Data were entered using Microsoft Access and later exported to STATA 14 for analysis. First, the distributions of each variable were inspected to check for errors. Descriptive statistics were used to investigate participants' characteristics. Beyond descriptive statistics, associations were analysed using regressions. Prevalence ratios were used as a measure of association since the study outcomes (knowledge about blood donation and blood donation) were highly prevalent among the students (>15%). We conducted bivariate and multivariate poisson regression in STATA version 14. Only variables that had a p-value of 0.2 at bivariate were included in the multivariate models. For variables that were highly correlated (r ≥ ± 0.4), only one of the two variables was included in the final model. The multi-variate model was built using backward elimination procedure. Results Participants’ characteristics The study included 1,192 students (633 at baseline and 559 at end-line). The distributions of the students’ sex and access to internet were similar at baseline and end-line (P-Value > 0.05). All the students had ever heard of blood donation at both baseline and end-line. About 65.1% (n = 412) at baseline and 80.1% (n = 448) at end-line obtained information on blood donation from school ( Table 1). Table 1 : Characteristics of participants at baseline and end-line Characteristic Baseline (N = 633) End-line (N = 559) P-Value Frequency (n) Percentage (%) Frequency (n) Percentage (%) Age (mean, SD) 18.1 (mean) 1.6 (SD) 18.9 (mean) 2.2 (SD) 0.000 Sex Female 295 46.6 254 45.4 0.687 Male 338 53.4 305 54.6 Academic level O-level 368 58.1 343 62.1 0.161 A-level 265 41.9 209 37.9 Location of school 0.000 Rural 239 37.8 292 52.2 Urban 393 62.2 267 47.8 Access to internet No 205 32.6 171 32.1 0.839 Yes 423 67.4 362 67.9 Received blood donation information from; School 412 65.1 448 80.1 0.000 Radio/ TV 138 21.8 229 41.0 0.000 Social media 79 12.5 160 28.6 0.000 Blood bank 65 10.3 132 23.6 0.000 Hospital 114 18.0 202 36.1 0.000 Community campaign 65 10.3 134 23.0 0.000 Friend 71 11.2 179 32.0 0.000 Do you know anyone who donated No 175 27.7 89 16.2 0.000 Yes 456 72.3 459 83.8 Blood donation knowledge and practices Overall knowledge about blood donation Overall, the proportion of students who were knowledgeable about blood increased from 28.3% at the baseline to 42.9% during the end-line survey. The chi square test for the difference in the knowledge between baseline and end-line was significant (p-value =0.000). ( Figure 1 : Overall knowledge score at baseline and end-line) Knowledge about the different aspects of blood donation Regarding the knowledge about the various aspects of blood donation, the proportion of students who were knowledgeable about the eligibility criteria for blood donation increased from 143 (28.7%) at baseline to 267 (48.8%) at the end-line, those who were knowledgeable about the benefits of blood donation increased from 201 (32.1%) at baseline to 230 (42.1%) at end-line and those who were knowledgeable about the potential beneficiaries of donated blood increased from 206 (32.9%) to 235 (43.0%). All the chi square tests for the knowledge on the different aspects of blood donation were significant ( Figure 2 : Knowledge regarding the different aspects of blood donation). Blood donation knowledge by the location of the schools The proportion of students who were knowledgeable about blood donation increased from 72 (30.1%) to 110 (37.7%) in the rural schools and from 110 (27.2%) to 130 (48.7%) in the schools located in the urban district. The chi square test was only significant for the schools located in the urban setting (p-value = 0.000). Factors associated with blood donation knowledge at end-line. At bivariate analysis, students who had access to internet were more knowledgeable about blood donation at end-line compared to those who didn’t have access to internet [PR= 1.74 (1.27, 2.39), p-value = 0.001]. Regarding the location of school, the students located in urban areas were more knowledgeable about blood donation compared to those in the schools located in rural areas [1.29 (1.00, 1.67), p-value = 0.048]. At multivariate analysis, only access to internet [1.58 (1.14, 2.20), p-value = 0.006) was significantly associated with blood donation knowledge ( Table 2 ). Table 2 : Factors associated with blood donation knowledge at the end-line. Characteristic Knowledge about blood donation Crude PR (95% CI) P-value Adjusted PR (95% CI) P-value No n (%) Yes n (%) Age Group Below 17 32 (72.7) 12 (27.3) 1.00 1.00 0.199 Above 17 275 (55.0) 225 (45.0) 1.65 (0.92, 2.95) 0.091 1.50 (0.81, 2.79) Sex Female 153 (60.2) 101 (39.8) 1.00 --- --- Male 166 (54.4) 139 (45.6) 1.15 (0.89, 1.48) 0.297 Academic level O-level 219 (63.9 ) 124 (36.2) 1.00 1.00 0.057 A-level 94 (45.0) 115 (55.0) 1.52 (1.18, 1.96) 0.001 1.30 (0.99, 1.71) Location of school Rural 182 (62.3) 110 (37.7) 1.00 1.00 0.267 Urban 137 (51.4) 130 (48.7) 1.29 (1.00, 1.67) 0.048 1.17 (0.89, 1.53) Access to internet No 122 (71.4) 49 (28.7) 1.00 1.00 0.006 Yes 181 (50.0) 181 (50.0) 1. (1.27, 2.39) 0.001 1.58 (1.14, 2.20) Do you know anyone who donated No 54 (60.7) 35 (39.3) 1.0 --- --- Yes 257 (56.0) 202 (44.0) 1.12 (0.78, 1.60) 0.539 Blood donation practices The proportion of students who donated blood at the end-line (20.8%, n= 114) did not significantly differ from those at the baseline (20.8%, n= 114, X 2 P-value = 0.298). Regarding the venues of blood donation, most respondents (77.19%, n=88) mentioned that they had donated from the school donation camps while others mentioned that they had donated from hospitals (22.81%, n=26), blood donation centers (14.04%, n=16) and regional blood banks (0.53%, n=12) at end-line. ( Figure 3 : Blood donation practices at baseline and end-line). Reasons for not donating blood. For those who had not donated, the most commonly mentioned reasons for not donating were; not being eligible (baseline; n=198, 41% and end-line; n = 209, 48.3%), fear of needles (baseline; n=159, 33.0% and end-line; n=106, 24.5%) and not seeing the importance of donating blood (baseline; n = 133, 13.9 and end-line; n=68, 15.7%). The chi-square tests showed that there was a difference between the proportion of students who feared of needles and those who were no eligible to donate at baseline and end-line ( Figure 4 : Reasons for not donating blood at end-line). Factors associated with blood donation practices. At bivariate analysis, students who knew someone who had ever donated were more likely to donate blood compared to those who did not know anyone who had donated blood [PR = 5.30 (1.96, 14.39), p-value = 0.002]. Regarding access to internet, the students who had access to internet were more likely to donate at end-line compared those who did not have access to internet [PR = 5.30 (1.96, 14.39), p-value = 0.001]. At multivariate analysis, only those who knew someone who had ever donated blood were more likely to donate blood [PR = 4.85 (1.78, 13.19), p-value = 0.002] ( Table 3 ). Table 3 : Factors associated with blood donation practices at end-line Characteristic Ever donated blood Crude PR (95% CI) P-value Adjusted PR (95% CI) P-value No n (%) Yes n (%) Age Group Below 17 39 (92.9) 3 (7.1) 1.00 1.00 0.136 Above 17 385 (78.1) 108 (21.9) 3.07 ( 0.97, 9.66) 0.056 2.42 (0.76, 7.71) Sex Female 205 (82.3) 44 (17.7) 1.00 1.00 0.559 Male 228 (76.5) 70 (23.5) 1.33 (0.91, 1.94) 0.139 1.13 (0.76, 1.68) Academic level O-level 274 (81.8) 61 (18.2) 1.00 1.00 0.201 A-level 153 (74.3) 53 (25.7) 1.41 (0.98, 2.04) 0.066 1.29 (0.87, 1.90) Location of school Rural 228 (80.0) 57 (20.0) 1.00 --- Urban 205 (78.2) 57 (21.8) 1.09 (0.75, 1.57) 0.653 --- Access to internet No 147 (86.0) 24 (14.0) 1.00 1.00 0.196 Yes 268 (75.7) 86 (24.3) 1.73 (1.10, 2.72) 0.017 1.37 (0.85, 2.19) Knowledge about blood donation No 352 (78.2) 98 (21.8) 1.00 Yes 130 (72.6) 49 (27.4) 1.01 (0.70, 1.47) 0.940 --- --- Do you know anyone who donated No 83 (95.4) 4 (4.6) 1.00 1.00 0.002 Yes 341 (75.6) 110 (24.4) 5.30 (1.96, 14.39) 0.001 6.09 (1.93, 19.24) Discussion According to our study, student’s knowledge about blood donation significantly increased by nearly 15% from baseline to end-line. Knowledge brokering can be an important step towards improving blood donation awareness and practice among the youth. Since blood donors are more likely to become repeat donors, it should be the goal of the Ugandan government to create blood donation awareness so as to get as many first time donors at secondary school level. In congruence with this finding, another study conducted in Nigeria showed that an educational intervention in the form of a workshop by experts in blood transfusion medicine improved in the knowledge regarding blood donation among medical students [18]. The similarity in the two studies could be explained by the fact that both studies were conducted in a similar setting (i.e. students in Africa) therefore suggesting that in order to improve students’ knowledge about blood donation in Uganda, the ministries of health, education and information ought to work with the Uganda Blood Transfusion Services to conduct awareness campaigns aimed at improving knowledge about blood donation in the various schools. Previous studies and show the prevalence of blood donation among students is generally low [20,21]. Indeed, this the proportion of students who donated blood at end-line did not differ from that at baseline. Just like other studies [10,22,23], this study further found that not being eligible to donate, the fear of needle pricks and not seeing the importance of donating blood were key barriers to donating blood among the students. This therefore implies that improving students’ knowledge regarding blood alone does not necessarily improve blood donation and there is need for interventions aimed at addressing other barriers to blood donation, like attitudes towards blood donation. Access to internet was significantly associated with knowledge about blood donation. This could be explained by the fact that students with internet were able to access more materials on blood donation online and therefore suggests that online platforms are promising avenues for blood awareness campaigns. With about 74.0% of Uganda’s population owning mobile phone and an internet penetration rate of more than 29.0% in the country[24]. Indeed, mobile platforms offer a potential platform to continuously share IEC materials about blood donation, share information about blood donation drives and more. Knowing someone who had ever donated blood was significantly associated with donating blood in our study, demonstrating the potential untapped role of peer influencers and past donors as champions for the cause. This finding is similar to that of a previous study which showed that family/peer pressure is one of the factors that influence blood donation[25]. To increase blood donation, it is important to work with blood donors as champions so that they are able to influence their peers to donate blood. The role of champions in knowledge translation has been demonstrated across studies [26,27]. Our study was not without limitations. The first limitation is related to the study design. The study involved one group before and after design with no control group. Therefore, the increase in knowledge on blood awareness observed during the end-line cannot be attributed to the intervention alone. However, the authors are not aware of any other information campaigns during this period and therefore have no reason to believe that our information campaign did not lead to the increase in knowledge about blood donation. Secondly, the short intervention period of three months could have impacted on the lack of difference seen in blood donation practices. Behaviour change takes time but is always preceded by awareness. Finally, the researchers did not have control over the study population as students could change schools. This therefore could have affected the study findings. Conclusion Brokering knowledge for behavior change increases knowledge about blood donation in secondary schools. Although our intervention did not increase blood donation practice, we posit that, sharing information, education and communication materials over a longer period of time could have an effect on the practice of blood donation. The importance of selecting the appropriate knowledge sharing platforms for an audience is demonstrated in our study in that access to internet was significantly associated with knowledge about blood donation thus suggesting the need to leverage internet avenues to increase blood donation awareness among students. Moreover, knowing someone who had ever donated blood was significantly associated with donating blood. Working with blood donors as champions in an entry point for advocacy and peer influence for blood donation. Interventions aimed at improving blood donation should also target other barriers such as attitudes towards blood donation and the fear of needles. List of abbreviations A’ level Advanced level education IEC Information Education Communication KT Knowledge translation O’ level Ordinary level education UBTS Uganda Blood Transfusion Services Declarations Ethics approval and consent to participate. We obtained ethical approval from Makerere University, School of Public Health Research and Ethics Committee. Permission to conduct research was obtained from the Uganda National Council of Science and Technology while administrative clearance was obtained from the district education officers and school head teachers. The students were required to provide their informed consent before participating in the study. Consent for publication. Not applicable Availability of data and materials The datasets used and/or analysed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request. Competing interests The authors declare they have no competing interests. Funding This research was funded by the Government of the Republic of Uganda through Makerere University Research and Innovations Fund. Authors' contributions SNK, ANK conceptualized the study. MA and FRN conducted the data analysis and wrote the initial drafts of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript. Acknowledgements We would like to acknowledge the head teachers of Bunya secondary school, Jinja secondary school, Delta High School and St. James’ secondary school for giving use permission to conduct this study and for all the support rendered during the implementation of the study. We also acknowledge the blood donation champions in all the schools who worked with us to educate other students on the different aspects of blood donation. We also appreciate the students who took part in the study and completed both the baseline and end-line surveys. References Shelton RC, Lee M, Brotzman LE, Wolfenden L, Nathan N, Wainberg ML. What is dissemination and implementation science? an introduction and opportunities to advance behavioral medicine and public health globally. International journal of behavioral medicine. 2020;27(1):3–20. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12529-020-09848-x Bornbaum CC, Kornas K, Peirson L, Rosella LC. 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Journal of Health Research. 2022;36(1):176–184. https://doi.org/10.1108/JHR-10-2020-0500 Uganda Bureau of Statistics. The Uganda National Household Survey (UNHS) 2019/2020. 2021: Uganda Bureau of Statistics. https://www.ubos.org/wp-content/uploads/publications/09_2021Uganda-National-Survey-Report-2019-2020.pdf Sharma R, Madan N, Venkatesh S, Ichhpujani R, Lal S. Factors influencing blood donations and the rational use of blood. The Journal of Communicable Diseases. 2010;42(3):185–190. Dobbins M, Greco L, Yost J, Traynor R, Decorby-Watson K, Yousefi-Nooraie R. A description of a tailored knowledge translation intervention delivered by knowledge brokers within public health departments in Canada. Health Research Policy and Systems. 2019;17(1):1–8. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12961-019-0460-z Wood K, Giannopoulos V, Louie E, Baillie A, Uribe G, Lee KS, et al. The role of clinical champions in facilitating the use of evidence-based practice in drug and alcohol and mental health settings: A systematic review. Implementation Research and Practice. 2020;1:2633489520959072. https://doi.org/10.1177/2633489520959072 Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-3976149","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":288697794,"identity":"6a038acf-af99-491f-89b4-3f311e6eb282","order_by":0,"name":"Suzanne N Kiwanuka","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Makerere University School of Public Health","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Suzanne","middleName":"N","lastName":"Kiwanuka","suffix":""},{"id":288697797,"identity":"ce30f8f5-dfd2-451d-848b-716712b265d7","order_by":1,"name":"Martha Akulume","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAA3UlEQVRIiWNgGAWjYFACNgaGB0CKH8RmbCBWSwKQkmwgWYvBAWK16LYfS5NIbNsmZ3ztjPHnwh0M8vwNPMYv8GkxO5N2DKjltrHZ7Rwz6ZlnGAxnHOAxs8Cr5UB6G0hL4jagFmbeNgbGDQw8ZgZ4tZx/DtZSv3l2jvFnoBZ7wlpuQByWYCCdYyAN1JII1GL8AL+WZ8kWCeduG864nVYmPbNNInnGYbYyfDqADkszvPGh7LY8/+zkzZ8L22xs+9ubN3/AqwcZMDMwSIBINglStEBo4m0ZBaNgFIyCkQAAJZBJ1rwUEE0AAAAASUVORK5CYII=","orcid":"","institution":"Makerere University School of Public Health","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Martha","middleName":"","lastName":"Akulume","suffix":""},{"id":288697805,"identity":"0047efa5-3ef3-4536-9279-48507c39c74e","order_by":2,"name":"Florence R Nankya","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Makerere University School of Public Health","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Florence","middleName":"R","lastName":"Nankya","suffix":""},{"id":288697808,"identity":"58710e70-d2d8-4dd1-908e-6bc918adf02f","order_by":3,"name":"Angela N Kisakye","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Makerere University School of Public Health","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Angela","middleName":"N","lastName":"Kisakye","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2024-02-21 15:44:22","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-3976149/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-3976149/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":54517079,"identity":"00ba4707-acc7-454c-a7d6-59008f18b5d7","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2024-04-11 16:49:03","extension":"jpg","order_by":1,"title":"Figure 1","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":184570,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003eOverall knowledge score at baseline and end-line\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"Figure1.jpg","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-3976149/v1/03d0ae00a7bd1b31a4ac2320.jpg"},{"id":54517365,"identity":"528848b8-b533-439b-ab29-9b662e5d8c7d","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2024-04-11 16:57:03","extension":"jpg","order_by":2,"title":"Figure 2","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":270698,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003eKnowledge regarding the different aspects of blood donation\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"Figure2.jpg","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-3976149/v1/f7d1a0c13d531105f0c3e944.jpg"},{"id":54517082,"identity":"af967060-c888-48d9-8ba2-1d98d424bf5d","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2024-04-11 16:49:03","extension":"jpg","order_by":3,"title":"Figure 3","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":26932,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003eBlood donation practices at baseline and end-line\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"Figure3.jpg","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-3976149/v1/0555252a074026b2a52bb850.jpg"},{"id":54517080,"identity":"2f5ca580-d65d-43e1-bb6c-73f5084e09ad","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2024-04-11 16:49:03","extension":"jpg","order_by":4,"title":"Figure 4","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":317418,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003eReasons for not donating blood at end-line\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"Figure4.jpg","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-3976149/v1/54f1f41fedb54d13295164f5.jpg"},{"id":55265947,"identity":"df970cc6-2078-4590-b37c-61e8ab6b6b5a","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2024-04-25 02:16:40","extension":"pdf","order_by":0,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":1166269,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"manuscript.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-3976149/v1/99da4254-d59b-4bed-ab96-049eebe48f40.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"Evaluating the effect of targeted knowledge sharing on blood donation awareness and practices among secondary school students: A quasi-experimental study in Eastern Uganda","fulltext":[{"header":"Introduction","content":"\u003cp\u003eThe importance of applying research-based evidence to inform health practices globally is indisputable[1]. However, efforts to achieve this have mostly focussed on generating evidence for upstream policy and decision making. As such, knowledge translation (KT) strategies have increasingly evolved to meet the needs of policy makers and not adequately focussed on applying evidence at the level of the health service beneficiary. Knowledge brokering (KB) is a knowledge translation approach that connects existing evidence to those individuals, groups or networks most likely to use it by interpreting, adapting and packaging evidence to audiences, contexts and experiences so that it can influence action [2]. Blood donation is a practice majorly driven by knowledge and awareness. Evidence shows that blood donation campaigns and the use of past blood donors and influencers are interventions that increase blood donation awareness and practice[3].This study adopted a school based information, education and communication (IEC) campaign toevaluate the effect of targeted knowledge sharing on blood donation awareness and practices among secondary school students.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBlood is a life-saving component during childbirth, surgeries and managing medical illnesses such as anemia, chemotherapy and replacing lost blood during road traffic accidents [1, 2]. Maintaining a safe and adequate blood supply is key in attaining positive outcomes of patients in both emergent and non-emergent situations [4]. Therefore, blood transfusion from donors is an indispensable part of modern health care [5]. Despite this, developing countries collect less than half of the blood that they need to meet the growing transfusion requirements due to the increasing prevalence of accidents, pregnancy and childbirth, as well as other medical conditions [6,7].\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eUganda, one of the developing country needs approximately 450,000 units of blood per year to be used in the treatment of about 29% people with severe malaria, 17% with sickle cell anemia, 15% patients with cancer and also help in performing surgical procedures [8]. However, the Uganda Blood Transfusion Services (UBTS) collects only approximately 275,000 units yearly, collecting under 1,000 units per day due to challenges ranging from access to funding and logistics, limited staffing, and infrastructural challenges, among others [9]. Other factors affecting blood donation include; personal factors such as fear of needles/ pricks [9] and feeling dizzy [10], lack of time for blood donation [11] and donors\u0026rsquo; lack of information about their physical conditions for blood donation eligibility [12].\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAccording to the World Health Organization (WHO), to meet the requirements for blood, 1% of the population needs to donate blood [13]. Although anyone aged between 17 and 60 years can donate blood as long as they are in good health, in Uganda, students are the biggest blood donors contributing to 95% of donors in the country, and their absence during the COVID-19 lockdown affected blood donation [13\u0026ndash;16]. Additionally, this population is available, less mobile and mostly healthy as required of a blood donor. However, school goers are hesitant to donate blood due to inadequate knowledge about the eligibility criteria for donating blood, the importance of blood donation and the end use of donated blood[17] . Fortunately, studies have showed positive effect of education interventions on the knowledge and later the decision of blood donation [18,19]. Despite this, not so many interventions have been implemented in secondary schools to improve blood donation awareness in Uganda. We therefore employed contextually appropriate communication strategies such as videos, blogs, fact sheets to increase awareness and blood donation practices among secondary school students in Uganda. \u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"Methods ","content":"\u003ch2\u003eStudy design\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis study employed a quasi-experimental study design. We conducted a single group before and after study. First, we conducted a baseline survey so as to assess the students\u0026rsquo; awareness, knowledge and practices about blood donation. We then shared IEC materials (videos, fact sheets and blogs) as KT tools that were intended to ensure that evidence about blood donation reached the students who were our key stakeholders. Thereafter we conducted an end-line survey to assess the change in students\u0026rsquo; knowledge and practices about blood donation.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003eStudy\u0026nbsp;area, population, sampling approach and study tools\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe study was conducted in four schools in Eastern Uganda (i.e. two schools in Jinja and two schools in Mayuge districts). The two study districts were purposively selected i.e. Jinja to represent an urban district and Mayuge to represent a rural district. At district level, we worked with the district education officers to purposively select two secondary schools within each district to represent a highly populated and low populated school. By the time we conducted the baseline survey, only senior three, four, five and six students were present at school. The students in senior four and six were preparing for their national exams and therefore were excluded from the study. We included only senior three and five students for the baseline survey. We conducted the end-line in the next academic year and the students had been promoted to the next class (i.e. the students who were in senior three at baseline had been promoted to senior four while those who were in senior five had been promoted to senior six). In order to maintain the same study population, we included senior four and senior six students in the end-line. In the Ugandan education grading system, the students in senior three and four are considered to be in ordinary level (O-level) while those in senior five and six are in advanced level (A-level)\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;For both the baseline and end-line survey, census sampling was used to recruit the students. At each schools, we called for an assembly were we informed the students about the study, its voluntary nature, purpose and procedures. All the interested students were given self-administered questionnaires. The questionnaire collected information on socio-demographics characteristics, knowledge and practices about blood donation. The questionnaire was pre-tested among 30 secondary students from a school located in Kampala, district prior to data collection. The data from the pre-test were not included in the final analysis but was used to inform adjustments in the tool.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cem\u003eDescription of the intervention\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/strong\u003e \u003cstrong\u003e\u003cem\u003eDevelopment and implementation of the intervention\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFor this study, we reviewed and packaged contextually appropriate IEC materials for school going students covering content on blood donation including; the situation of blood shortages in Uganda, the benefits of blood donation, experiences of blood donors, self-care after donating and eligibility for donating blood. A medical officer, who was part to the study team developed five fact sheets, five blogs and scripts for the five videos and these were reviewed by a KT expert to ensure that they were appropriate, give the local context and targeted population. We hired an infographic designer to design the print IEC materials and two videographers to produce the different videos. Each IEC material had a link to the website containing all the IEC materials. Four of the five videos were in English while one was in Lusoga (the commonest local language in Eastern Uganda). To cater for those who did not understand the Lusoga language, we added English subtitles to the Lusoga video. Each video was about 5 to 10 minutes long. All the factsheets and blogs were in the English Language and were utmost two pages long with a number of infographics so as to attract the readers\u0026rsquo; attention.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe intervention (which involved sharing IEC materials with the students) was launched after the baseline survey. At each school, we held an assembly with students where we showed all the five videos. We then selected champions (previous blood donors) who were given a package of printed IEC materials so that they could improve their knowledge and educate others. The champions were selected with the help of the teachers and were given T-shirts as an incentive to spread blood donation awareness among their colleagues. In each school, a teacher was tasked with sharing the videos monthly for a period of three months. The videos were played during the school entertainment sessions. The research team made visits to the school every two weeks to check if the intervention was being implemented as planned. At the end of the three months we did the post intervention survey in the same schools.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cem\u003eStudy variables\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe outcome variables for this study included knowledge and blood donation practices whereas the independent variables included; age, sex, academic level, location of school, access to internet and knowing someone who has ever donated. For this study, we categorized age into two categories i.e. below 17 years of age and 17 years and above since one has to be 17years of age to be eligible to donate blood. This categorization there enables us to compare of the knowledge and blood donation practices of ineligible respondent and eligible respondents. \u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003eAssessment of knowledge and blood donation practices\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eKnowledge was assessed using three questions (i.e. knowledge about the eligibility criteria for blood donation, knowledge about the benefits of blood donation and knowledge about the potential beneficiaries of blood donation). Each respondent was scored \u0026ldquo;1\u0026rdquo; for a correct response and 0 for an incorrect response. We then computed an overall knowledge score by obtaining the sum of knowledge score for all the three aspects of blood donation. The participants who scored at least 2/3 in the overall knowledge assessment were deemed knowledgeable while those who scored less than 2/3 were regarded not to be knowledgeable about blood donation. Blood donation practices were assessed using one question. The respondents were asked if they had ever donated blood prior to the survey. The responses were coded \u0026ldquo;1\u0026rdquo; for \u0026ldquo;ever donated\u0026rdquo; and \u0026ldquo;0\u0026rsquo; for \u0026ldquo;never donated\u0026rdquo;.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003eData Management and analysis\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eData were entered using Microsoft Access and later exported to STATA 14 for analysis. First, the distributions of each variable were inspected to check for errors. Descriptive statistics were used to investigate participants\u0026apos; characteristics. Beyond descriptive statistics, associations were analysed using regressions. Prevalence ratios were used as a measure of association since the study outcomes (knowledge about blood donation and blood donation) were highly prevalent among the students (\u0026gt;15%). We conducted bivariate and multivariate poisson regression in STATA version 14. Only variables that had a p-value of 0.2 at bivariate were included in the multivariate models. For variables that were highly correlated (r \u0026ge; \u0026plusmn; 0.4), only one of the two variables was included in the final model. The multi-variate model was built using backward elimination procedure.\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"Results","content":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eParticipants\u0026rsquo; characteristics\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe study included 1,192 students (633 at baseline and 559 at end-line). The distributions of the students\u0026rsquo; sex and access to internet were similar at baseline and end-line (P-Value \u0026gt; 0.05). All the students had ever heard of blood donation at both baseline and end-line. About 65.1% (n = 412) at baseline and 80.1% (n = 448) at end-line obtained information on blood donation from school (\u003cstrong\u003eTable 1).\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eTable\u0026nbsp;\u003c/strong\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e1\u003c/strong\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e:\u003c/strong\u003e \u003cstrong\u003eCharacteristics of participants at baseline and end-line\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ctable border=\"1\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" width=\"652\"\u003e\n \u003ctbody\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"24.69325153374233%\" rowspan=\"2\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eCharacteristic\u0026nbsp;\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"33.282208588957054%\" colspan=\"2\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eBaseline (N = 633)\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"30.368098159509202%\" colspan=\"2\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eEnd-line (N = 559)\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"11.656441717791411%\" rowspan=\"2\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eP-Value\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"25.06024096385542%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFrequency (n)\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"27.228915662650603%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePercentage (%)\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"20.481927710843372%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFrequency (n)\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"27.228915662650603%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePercentage (%)\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"24.69325153374233%\" valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;Age (mean, SD)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"15.950920245398773%\" valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e18.1 (mean)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"17.33128834355828%\" valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e1.6 (SD)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"13.036809815950921%\" valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e18.9 (mean)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"17.33128834355828%\" valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e2.2 (SD)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"11.656441717791411%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e0.000\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"24.69325153374233%\" valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u0026nbsp;Sex\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"15.950920245398773%\" valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"17.33128834355828%\" valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"13.036809815950921%\" valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"17.33128834355828%\" valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"11.656441717791411%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"24.69325153374233%\" valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp;Female\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"15.950920245398773%\" valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e295\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"17.33128834355828%\" valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e46.6\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"13.036809815950921%\" valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e254\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"17.33128834355828%\" valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e45.4\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"11.656441717791411%\" rowspan=\"2\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e0.687\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"27.95138888888889%\" valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp;Male\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"18.055555555555557%\" valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e338\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"19.618055555555557%\" valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e53.4\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"14.756944444444445%\" valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e305\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"19.618055555555557%\" valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e54.6\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"24.69325153374233%\" valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAcademic level\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"15.950920245398773%\" valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"17.33128834355828%\" valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"13.036809815950921%\" valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"17.33128834355828%\" valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"11.656441717791411%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"24.69325153374233%\" valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp;O-level\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"15.950920245398773%\" valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp; 368\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"17.33128834355828%\" valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e58.1\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"13.036809815950921%\" valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e343\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"17.33128834355828%\" valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e62.1\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"11.656441717791411%\" rowspan=\"2\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e0.161\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"27.95138888888889%\" valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp;A-level\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"18.055555555555557%\" valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e265\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"19.618055555555557%\" valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e41.9\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"14.756944444444445%\" valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e209\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"19.618055555555557%\" valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e37.9\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"24.69325153374233%\" valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eLocation of school\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"15.950920245398773%\" valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"17.33128834355828%\" valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"13.036809815950921%\" valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"17.33128834355828%\" valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"11.656441717791411%\" rowspan=\"3\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e0.000\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"27.95138888888889%\" valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp;Rural\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"18.055555555555557%\" valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e239\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"19.618055555555557%\" valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e37.8\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"14.756944444444445%\" valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e292\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"19.618055555555557%\" valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e52.2\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"27.95138888888889%\" valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp;Urban\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"18.055555555555557%\" valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e393 \u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"19.618055555555557%\" valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e62.2 \u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"14.756944444444445%\" valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e267 \u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"19.618055555555557%\" valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e47.8 \u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"24.69325153374233%\" valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAccess to internet\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"15.950920245398773%\" valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"17.33128834355828%\" valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"13.036809815950921%\" valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"17.33128834355828%\" valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"11.656441717791411%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"24.69325153374233%\" valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp;No\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"15.950920245398773%\" valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e205\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"17.33128834355828%\" valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e32.6\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"13.036809815950921%\" valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e171\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"17.33128834355828%\" valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e32.1\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"11.656441717791411%\" rowspan=\"2\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e0.839\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"27.95138888888889%\" valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp;Yes\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"18.055555555555557%\" valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e423\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"19.618055555555557%\" valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e67.4\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"14.756944444444445%\" valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e362\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"19.618055555555557%\" valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e67.9\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"88.34355828220859%\" colspan=\"5\" valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eReceived blood donation information from;\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"11.656441717791411%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"24.69325153374233%\" valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp;School\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"15.950920245398773%\" valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e412\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"17.33128834355828%\" valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e65.1\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"13.036809815950921%\" valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e448\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"17.33128834355828%\" valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e80.1\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"11.656441717791411%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e0.000\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"24.69325153374233%\" valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp;Radio/ TV\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"15.950920245398773%\" valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e138\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"17.33128834355828%\" valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e21.8\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"13.036809815950921%\" valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e229\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"17.33128834355828%\" valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e41.0\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"11.656441717791411%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e0.000\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"24.69325153374233%\" valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp;Social media\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"15.950920245398773%\" valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e79\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"17.33128834355828%\" valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e12.5\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"13.036809815950921%\" valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e160\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"17.33128834355828%\" valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e28.6\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"11.656441717791411%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e0.000\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"24.69325153374233%\" valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp;Blood bank\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"15.950920245398773%\" valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e65\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"17.33128834355828%\" valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e10.3\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"13.036809815950921%\" valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e132\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"17.33128834355828%\" valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e23.6\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"11.656441717791411%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e0.000\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"24.69325153374233%\" valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp;Hospital\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"15.950920245398773%\" valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e114\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"17.33128834355828%\" valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e18.0\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"13.036809815950921%\" valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e202\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"17.33128834355828%\" valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e36.1\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"11.656441717791411%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e0.000\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"24.69325153374233%\" valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp;Community campaign\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"15.950920245398773%\" valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e65 \u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"17.33128834355828%\" valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e10.3\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"13.036809815950921%\" valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e134\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"17.33128834355828%\" valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e23.0\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"11.656441717791411%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e0.000\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"24.69325153374233%\" valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp;Friend\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"15.950920245398773%\" valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e71\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"17.33128834355828%\" valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e11.2\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"13.036809815950921%\" valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e179\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"17.33128834355828%\" valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e32.0\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"11.656441717791411%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e0.000\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"88.34355828220859%\" colspan=\"5\" valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eDo you know anyone who donated\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"11.656441717791411%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"24.69325153374233%\" valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; No\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"15.950920245398773%\" valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e175\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"17.33128834355828%\" valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e27.7\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"13.036809815950921%\" valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e89\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"17.33128834355828%\" valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e16.2\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"11.656441717791411%\" rowspan=\"2\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e0.000\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"27.95138888888889%\" valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; Yes\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"18.055555555555557%\" valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e456\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"19.618055555555557%\" valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e72.3\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"14.756944444444445%\" valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e459\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"19.618055555555557%\" valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e83.8\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003c/tbody\u003e\n\u003c/table\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eBlood donation knowledge and practices\u0026nbsp;\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cem\u003eOverall knowledge about blood donation\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOverall, the proportion of students who were knowledgeable about blood increased from 28.3% at the baseline to 42.9% during the end-line survey. The chi square test for the difference in the knowledge between baseline and end-line was significant (p-value =0.000). (\u003cstrong\u003eFigure\u0026nbsp;\u003c/strong\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e1\u003c/strong\u003e: Overall knowledge score at baseline and end-line)\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eKnowledge about the different aspects of blood donation\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eRegarding the knowledge about the various aspects of blood donation, the proportion of students who were knowledgeable about the eligibility criteria for blood donation increased from 143 (28.7%) at baseline to 267 (48.8%) at the end-line, those who were knowledgeable about the benefits of blood donation increased from 201 (32.1%) at baseline to 230 (42.1%) at end-line and those who were knowledgeable about the potential beneficiaries of donated blood increased from 206 (32.9%) to 235 (43.0%). All the chi square tests for the knowledge on the different aspects of blood donation were significant (\u003cstrong\u003eFigure\u0026nbsp;\u003c/strong\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e2\u003c/strong\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e:\u003c/strong\u003e Knowledge regarding the different aspects of blood donation).\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cem\u003eBlood donation knowledge by the location of the schools\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe proportion of students who were knowledgeable about blood donation increased from 72 (30.1%) to 110 (37.7%) in the rural schools and from 110 (27.2%) to 130 (48.7%) in the schools located in the urban district. The chi square test was only significant for the schools located in the urban setting (p-value = 0.000).\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFactors associated with blood donation knowledge at end-line.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAt bivariate analysis, students who had access to internet were more knowledgeable about blood donation at end-line compared to those who didn\u0026rsquo;t have access to internet [PR= 1.74 (1.27, 2.39), p-value = 0.001]. Regarding the location of school, the students located in urban areas were more knowledgeable about blood donation compared to those in the schools located in rural areas [1.29 (1.00, 1.67), p-value = 0.048]. At multivariate analysis, only access to internet [1.58 (1.14, 2.20), p-value = 0.006) was significantly associated with blood donation knowledge (\u003cstrong\u003eTable 2\u003c/strong\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eTable\u0026nbsp;\u003c/strong\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e2\u003c/strong\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e: Factors associated with blood donation knowledge at the end-line.\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ctable border=\"1\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" width=\"680\"\u003e\n \u003ctbody\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"25.294117647058822%\" rowspan=\"2\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eCharacteristic\u0026nbsp;\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"23.235294117647058%\" colspan=\"2\" style=\"width: 31.3953%;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eKnowledge about blood donation\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"15.294117647058824%\" rowspan=\"2\" style=\"width: 19.6341%;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eCrude PR (95% CI)\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"9.705882352941176%\" rowspan=\"2\" style=\"width: 8.0302%;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eP-value\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"16.764705882352942%\" rowspan=\"2\" style=\"width: 11.2345%;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAdjusted PR (95% CI)\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"9.705882352941176%\" rowspan=\"2\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eP-value\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"49.685534591194966%\" style=\"width: 16.4223%;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eNo\u0026nbsp;\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003en (%)\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"50.314465408805034%\" style=\"width: 18.16%;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eYes\u0026nbsp;\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003en (%)\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"100%\" colspan=\"7\" valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u0026nbsp;Age Group\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"25.25697503671072%\" valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; Below 17\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"11.600587371512482%\" valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 16.4223%;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp; 32 (72.7)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"11.747430249632894%\" valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 18.16%;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;12 (27.3)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"15.27165932452276%\" valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 19.6341%;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e1.00\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"9.691629955947137%\" valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 8.0302%;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"16.740088105726873%\" valign=\"bottom\" style=\"width: 11.2345%;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e1.00\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"9.691629955947137%\" rowspan=\"2\" valign=\"bottom\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e0.199\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"27.96747967479675%\" valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; Above 17\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"12.845528455284553%\" valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 16.4223%;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;275 (55.0)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"13.008130081300813%\" valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 18.16%;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp; 225 (45.0)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"16.910569105691057%\" valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 19.6341%;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e1.65 (0.92, 2.95)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"10.731707317073171%\" valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 8.0302%;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e0.091\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"18.536585365853657%\" valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 11.2345%;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp; 1.50 (0.81, 2.79)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"100%\" colspan=\"7\" valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSex\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"25.25697503671072%\" valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp;Female\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"11.600587371512482%\" valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 16.4223%;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e153 (60.2)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"11.747430249632894%\" valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 18.16%;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e101 (39.8)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"15.27165932452276%\" valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 19.6341%;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e1.00\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"9.691629955947137%\" valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 8.0302%;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"16.740088105726873%\" rowspan=\"2\" valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 11.2345%;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e---\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"9.691629955947137%\" rowspan=\"2\" valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e---\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"34.3313373253493%\" valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp;Male\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"15.768463073852296%\" valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 16.4223%;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e166 (54.4)\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"15.968063872255488%\" valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 18.16%;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e139 (45.6)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"20.758483033932137%\" valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 19.6341%;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e1.15 (0.89, 1.48)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"13.173652694610778%\" valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 8.0302%;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e0.297 \u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"100%\" colspan=\"7\" valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAcademic level\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"25.25697503671072%\" valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp;O-level\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"11.600587371512482%\" valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 16.4223%;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e219 (63.9\u003cstrong\u003e)\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"11.747430249632894%\" valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 18.16%;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e124 (36.2)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"15.27165932452276%\" valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 19.6341%;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e1.00\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"9.691629955947137%\" valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 8.0302%;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"16.740088105726873%\" valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 11.2345%;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e1.00\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"9.691629955947137%\" rowspan=\"2\" valign=\"bottom\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e0.057\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"27.96747967479675%\" valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp;A-level\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"12.845528455284553%\" valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 16.4223%;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e94 (45.0)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"13.008130081300813%\" valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 18.16%;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;115 (55.0)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"16.910569105691057%\" valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 19.6341%;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e1.52 (1.18, 1.96)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"10.731707317073171%\" valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 8.0302%;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e0.001\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"18.536585365853657%\" valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 11.2345%;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e1.30 (0.99, 1.71)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"100%\" colspan=\"7\" valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eLocation of school\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"25.25697503671072%\" valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp;Rural\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"11.600587371512482%\" valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 16.4223%;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e182 (62.3)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"11.747430249632894%\" valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 18.16%;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e110 (37.7)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"15.27165932452276%\" valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 19.6341%;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e1.00\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"9.691629955947137%\" valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 8.0302%;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"16.740088105726873%\" valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 11.2345%;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e1.00\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"9.691629955947137%\" rowspan=\"2\" valign=\"bottom\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e0.267\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"27.96747967479675%\" valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp;Urban\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"12.845528455284553%\" valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 16.4223%;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e137 (51.4)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"13.008130081300813%\" valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 18.16%;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e130 (48.7)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"16.910569105691057%\" valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 19.6341%;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e1.29 (1.00, 1.67)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"10.731707317073171%\" valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 8.0302%;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e0.048\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"18.536585365853657%\" valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 11.2345%;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e1.17 (0.89, 1.53)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"100%\" colspan=\"7\" valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAccess to internet\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"25.25697503671072%\" valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp;No\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"11.600587371512482%\" valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 16.4223%;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e122 (71.4)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"11.747430249632894%\" valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 18.16%;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp; 49 (28.7)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"15.27165932452276%\" valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 19.6341%;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e1.00\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"9.691629955947137%\" valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 8.0302%;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"16.740088105726873%\" valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 11.2345%;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e1.00\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"9.691629955947137%\" rowspan=\"2\" valign=\"bottom\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e0.006\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"27.96747967479675%\" valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; Yes\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"12.845528455284553%\" valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 16.4223%;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e181 (50.0)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"13.008130081300813%\" valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 18.16%;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e181 (50.0)\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"16.910569105691057%\" valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 19.6341%;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e1. (1.27, 2.39)\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"10.731707317073171%\" valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 8.0302%;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e0.001\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"18.536585365853657%\" valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 11.2345%;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e1.58 (1.14, 2.20)\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"100%\" colspan=\"7\" valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eDo you know anyone who donated\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"25.25697503671072%\" valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; No\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"11.600587371512482%\" valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 16.4223%;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e54 (60.7)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"11.747430249632894%\" valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 18.16%;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e35 (39.3)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"15.27165932452276%\" valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 19.6341%;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e1.0\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"9.691629955947137%\" valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 8.0302%;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"16.740088105726873%\" rowspan=\"2\" valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 11.2345%;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e---\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"9.691629955947137%\" rowspan=\"2\" valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e---\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"34.3313373253493%\" valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; Yes\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"15.768463073852296%\" valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 16.4223%;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e257 (56.0)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"15.968063872255488%\" valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 18.16%;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e202 (44.0)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"20.758483033932137%\" valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 19.6341%;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e1.12 (0.78, 1.60)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"13.173652694610778%\" valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 8.0302%;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e0.539 \u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003c/tbody\u003e\n\u003c/table\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eBlood donation practices\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe proportion of students who donated blood at the end-line (20.8%, n= 114) did not significantly differ from those at the baseline (20.8%, n= 114, X\u003csup\u003e2\u0026nbsp;\u003c/sup\u003eP-value = 0.298). Regarding the venues of blood donation, most respondents (77.19%, n=88) mentioned that they had donated from the school donation camps while others mentioned that they had donated from hospitals (22.81%, n=26), blood donation centers (14.04%, n=16) and regional blood banks (0.53%, n=12) at end-line. (\u003cstrong\u003eFigure\u0026nbsp;\u003c/strong\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e3\u003c/strong\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e:\u003c/strong\u003e Blood donation practices at baseline and end-line).\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eReasons for not donating blood.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFor those who had not donated, the most commonly mentioned reasons for not donating were; not being eligible (baseline; n=198, 41% and end-line; n = 209, 48.3%), fear of needles (baseline; n=159, 33.0% and end-line; n=106, 24.5%) and not seeing the importance of donating blood (baseline; n = 133, 13.9 and end-line; n=68, 15.7%). The chi-square tests showed that there was a difference between the proportion of students who feared of needles and those who were no eligible to donate at baseline and end-line (\u003cstrong\u003eFigure\u0026nbsp;\u003c/strong\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e4\u003c/strong\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e:\u003c/strong\u003e Reasons for not donating blood at end-line).\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFactors associated with blood donation practices.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAt bivariate analysis, students who knew someone who had ever donated were more likely to donate blood compared to those who did not know anyone who had donated blood [PR = 5.30 (1.96, 14.39), p-value = 0.002]. Regarding access to internet, the students who had access to internet were more likely to donate at end-line compared those who did not have access to internet [PR = 5.30 (1.96, 14.39), p-value = 0.001]. At multivariate analysis, only those who knew someone who had ever donated blood were more likely to donate blood [PR = 4.85 (1.78, 13.19), p-value = 0.002] (\u003cstrong\u003eTable 3\u003c/strong\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eTable\u0026nbsp;\u003c/strong\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e3\u003c/strong\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e: Factors associated with blood donation practices at end-line\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ctable border=\"1\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" width=\"709\"\u003e\n \u003ctbody\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"18.64406779661017%\" rowspan=\"2\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eCharacteristic\u0026nbsp;\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"26.694915254237287%\" colspan=\"2\" style=\"width: 42.7506%;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eEver donated blood\u0026nbsp;\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"18.64406779661017%\" rowspan=\"2\" style=\"width: 14.6542%;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eCrude PR (95% CI)\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"6.638418079096045%\" rowspan=\"2\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eP-value\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"21.327683615819208%\" rowspan=\"2\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAdjusted PR (95% CI)\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"8.05084745762712%\" rowspan=\"2\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eP-value\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"49.735449735449734%\" style=\"width: 19.9015%;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eNo\u0026nbsp;\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003en (%)\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"50.264550264550266%\" style=\"width: 21.5654%;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eYes\u0026nbsp;\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003en (%)\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"100%\" colspan=\"7\" valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u0026nbsp;Age Group\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"18.64406779661017%\" valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; Below 17\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"13.27683615819209%\" valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 19.9015%;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp;39 (92.9)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"13.418079096045197%\" valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 21.5654%;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e3 (7.1)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"18.64406779661017%\" valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 14.6542%;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e1.00\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"6.638418079096045%\" valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"21.327683615819208%\" valign=\"bottom\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e1.00\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"8.05084745762712%\" rowspan=\"2\" valign=\"bottom\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e0.136\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"20.276497695852534%\" valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; Above 17\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"14.439324116743471%\" valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 19.9015%;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e385 (78.1)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"14.592933947772657%\" valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 21.5654%;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;108 (21.9)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"20.276497695852534%\" valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 14.6542%;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e3.07 ( 0.97, 9.66)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"7.2196620583717355%\" valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e0.056 \u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"23.195084485407065%\" valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e2.42 (0.76, 7.71)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"100%\" colspan=\"7\" valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSex\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"18.64406779661017%\" valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp;Female\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"13.27683615819209%\" valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 19.9015%;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; 205 (82.3)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"13.418079096045197%\" valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 21.5654%;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp; 44 (17.7)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"18.64406779661017%\" valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 14.6542%;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e1.00\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"6.638418079096045%\" valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"21.327683615819208%\" valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e1.00\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"8.05084745762712%\" rowspan=\"2\" valign=\"bottom\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp;0.559 \u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"20.276497695852534%\" valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp;Male\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"14.439324116743471%\" valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 19.9015%;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; 228 (76.5)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"14.592933947772657%\" valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 21.5654%;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e70 (23.5)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"20.276497695852534%\" valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 14.6542%;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e1.33 (0.91, 1.94)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"7.2196620583717355%\" valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e0.139\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"23.195084485407065%\" valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e1.13 (0.76, 1.68)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"100%\" colspan=\"7\" valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAcademic level\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"18.64406779661017%\" valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp;O-level\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"13.27683615819209%\" valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 19.9015%;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e274 (81.8)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"13.418079096045197%\" valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 21.5654%;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp; 61 (18.2)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"18.64406779661017%\" valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 14.6542%;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e1.00\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"6.638418079096045%\" valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"21.327683615819208%\" valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e1.00\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"8.05084745762712%\" rowspan=\"2\" valign=\"bottom\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e0.201\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"20.276497695852534%\" valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp;A-level\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"14.439324116743471%\" valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 19.9015%;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e153 (74.3)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"14.592933947772657%\" valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 21.5654%;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp;53 (25.7)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"20.276497695852534%\" valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 14.6542%;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e1.41 (0.98, 2.04)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"7.2196620583717355%\" valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e0.066\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"23.195084485407065%\" valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e1.29 (0.87, 1.90)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"100%\" colspan=\"7\" valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eLocation of school\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"18.64406779661017%\" valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp;Rural\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"13.27683615819209%\" valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 19.9015%;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e228 (80.0)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"13.418079096045197%\" valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 21.5654%;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e57 (20.0)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"18.64406779661017%\" valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 14.6542%;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e1.00\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"6.638418079096045%\" valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"21.327683615819208%\" valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"8.05084745762712%\" rowspan=\"2\" valign=\"bottom\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e---\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"20.276497695852534%\" valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp;Urban\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"14.439324116743471%\" valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 19.9015%;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e205 (78.2)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"14.592933947772657%\" valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 21.5654%;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e57 (21.8)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"20.276497695852534%\" valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 14.6542%;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e1.09 (0.75, 1.57)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"7.2196620583717355%\" valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e0.653\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"23.195084485407065%\" valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e---\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"100%\" colspan=\"7\" valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAccess to internet\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"18.64406779661017%\" valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp;No\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"13.27683615819209%\" valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 19.9015%;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e147 (86.0)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"13.418079096045197%\" valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 21.5654%;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e24 (14.0)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"18.64406779661017%\" valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 14.6542%;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e1.00\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"6.638418079096045%\" valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"21.327683615819208%\" valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e1.00\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"8.05084745762712%\" rowspan=\"2\" valign=\"bottom\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e0.196\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"20.276497695852534%\" valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; Yes\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"14.439324116743471%\" valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 19.9015%;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e268 (75.7)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"14.592933947772657%\" valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 21.5654%;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e86 (24.3)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"20.276497695852534%\" valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 14.6542%;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e1.73 (1.10, 2.72)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"7.2196620583717355%\" valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e0.017\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"23.195084485407065%\" valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e1.37 (0.85, 2.19)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"100%\" colspan=\"7\" valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eKnowledge about blood donation\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"18.64406779661017%\" valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp;No\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"13.27683615819209%\" valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 19.9015%;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; 352 (78.2)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"13.418079096045197%\" valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 21.5654%;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp; 98 (21.8)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"18.64406779661017%\" valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 14.6542%;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e1.00\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"6.638418079096045%\" valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"21.327683615819208%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"8.05084745762712%\" valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"18.64406779661017%\" valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp;Yes\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"13.27683615819209%\" valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 19.9015%;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; 130 (72.6)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"13.418079096045197%\" valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 21.5654%;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e49 (27.4)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"18.64406779661017%\" valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 14.6542%;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e1.01 (0.70, 1.47)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"6.638418079096045%\" valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e0.940\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"21.327683615819208%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e---\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"8.05084745762712%\" valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e---\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"100%\" colspan=\"7\" valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eDo you know anyone who donated\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"18.64406779661017%\" valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; No\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"13.27683615819209%\" valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 19.9015%;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e83 (95.4)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"13.418079096045197%\" valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 21.5654%;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp; 4 (4.6)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"18.64406779661017%\" valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 14.6542%;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e1.00\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"6.638418079096045%\" valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"21.327683615819208%\" valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e1.00\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"8.05084745762712%\" rowspan=\"2\" valign=\"bottom\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e0.002\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"20.276497695852534%\" valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp;Yes\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"14.439324116743471%\" valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 19.9015%;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u0026nbsp; 341 (75.6)\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"14.592933947772657%\" valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 21.5654%;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e110 (24.4)\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"20.276497695852534%\" valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 14.6542%;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e5.30 (1.96, 14.39)\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"7.2196620583717355%\" valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e0.001\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"23.195084485407065%\" valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e6.09 (1.93, 19.24)\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003c/tbody\u003e\n\u003c/table\u003e"},{"header":"Discussion ","content":"\u003cp\u003eAccording to our study, student\u0026rsquo;s knowledge about blood donation significantly increased by nearly 15% from baseline to end-line. Knowledge brokering can be an important step towards improving blood donation awareness and practice among the youth. Since blood donors are more likely to become repeat donors, it should be the goal of the Ugandan government to create blood donation awareness so as to get as many first time donors at secondary school level. In congruence with this finding, another study conducted in Nigeria showed that an educational intervention in the form of a workshop by experts in blood transfusion medicine improved in the knowledge regarding blood donation among medical students [18]. The similarity in the two studies could be explained by the fact that both studies were conducted in a similar setting (i.e. students in Africa) therefore suggesting that in order to improve students\u0026rsquo; knowledge about blood donation in Uganda, the ministries of health, education and information ought to work with the Uganda Blood Transfusion Services to conduct awareness campaigns aimed at improving knowledge about blood donation in the various schools.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePrevious studies and show the prevalence of blood donation among students is generally low [20,21]. Indeed, this the proportion of students who donated blood at end-line did not differ from that at baseline. Just like other studies [10,22,23], this study further found that not being eligible to donate, the fear of needle pricks and not seeing the importance of donating blood were key barriers to donating blood among the students. This therefore implies that improving students\u0026rsquo; knowledge regarding blood alone does not necessarily improve blood donation and there is need for interventions aimed at addressing other barriers to blood donation, like attitudes towards blood donation.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAccess to internet was significantly associated with knowledge about blood donation. This could be explained by the fact that students with internet were able to access more materials on blood donation online and therefore suggests that online platforms are promising avenues for blood awareness campaigns. With about 74.0% of Uganda\u0026rsquo;s population owning mobile phone and an internet penetration rate of more than 29.0% in the country[24]. Indeed, mobile platforms offer a potential platform to continuously share IEC materials about blood donation, share information about blood donation drives and more.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eKnowing someone who had ever donated blood was significantly associated with donating blood in our study, demonstrating the potential untapped role of peer influencers and past donors as champions for the cause. This finding is similar to that of a previous study which showed that family/peer pressure is one of the factors that influence blood donation[25]. To increase blood donation, it is important to work with blood donors as champions so that they are able to influence their peers to donate blood. The role of champions in knowledge translation has been demonstrated across studies [26,27].\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOur study was not without limitations. The first limitation is related to the study design. The study involved one group before and after design with no control group. Therefore, the increase in knowledge on blood awareness observed during the end-line cannot be attributed to the intervention alone. However, the authors are not aware of any other information campaigns during this period and therefore have no reason to believe that our information campaign did not lead to the increase in knowledge about blood donation. Secondly, the short intervention period of three months could have impacted on the lack of difference seen in blood donation practices. Behaviour change takes time but is always preceded by awareness. Finally, the researchers did not have control over the study population as students could change schools. This therefore could have affected the study findings.\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"Conclusion ","content":"\u003cp\u003eBrokering knowledge for behavior change increases knowledge about blood donation in secondary schools. Although our intervention did not increase blood donation practice, we posit that, sharing information, education and communication materials over a longer period of time could have an effect on the practice of blood donation. The importance of selecting the appropriate knowledge sharing platforms for an audience is demonstrated in our study in that access to internet was significantly associated with knowledge about blood donation thus suggesting the need to leverage internet avenues to increase blood donation awareness among students. Moreover, knowing someone who had ever donated blood was significantly associated with donating blood. Working with blood donors as champions in an entry point for advocacy and peer influence for blood donation. Interventions aimed at improving blood donation should also target other barriers such as attitudes towards blood donation and the fear of needles.\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"List of abbreviations ","content":"\u003ctable border=\"1\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\"\u003e\n \u003ctbody\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"14.420062695924765%\" valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eA\u0026rsquo; level\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"85.57993730407523%\" valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eAdvanced level education\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"14.420062695924765%\" valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eIEC\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"85.57993730407523%\" valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eInformation Education Communication\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"14.420062695924765%\" valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eKT\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"85.57993730407523%\" valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eKnowledge translation\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"14.420062695924765%\" valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eO\u0026rsquo; level\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"85.57993730407523%\" valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eOrdinary level education\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"14.420062695924765%\" valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eUBTS\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"85.57993730407523%\" valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eUganda Blood Transfusion Services\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003c/tbody\u003e\n\u003c/table\u003e"},{"header":"Declarations ","content":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cem\u003eEthics approval and consent to participate.\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWe obtained ethical approval from Makerere University, School of Public Health Research and Ethics Committee. Permission to conduct research was obtained from the Uganda National Council of Science and Technology while administrative clearance was obtained from the district education officers and school head teachers. The students were required to provide their informed consent before participating in the study.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eConsent for publication.\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNot applicable\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cem\u003eAvailability of data and materials\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe datasets used and/or analysed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cem\u003eCompeting interests\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe authors declare they have no competing interests.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cem\u003eFunding\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis research was funded by the Government of the Republic of Uganda through Makerere University Research and Innovations Fund.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cem\u003eAuthors\u0026apos; contributions\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSNK, ANK conceptualized the study. MA and FRN conducted the data analysis and wrote the initial drafts of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cem\u003eAcknowledgements\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWe would like to acknowledge the head teachers of Bunya secondary school, Jinja secondary school, Delta High School and St. James\u0026rsquo; secondary school for giving use permission to conduct this study and for all the support rendered during the implementation of the study. We also acknowledge the blood donation champions in all the schools who worked with us to educate other students on the different aspects of blood donation. We also appreciate the students who took part in the study and completed both the baseline and end-line surveys.\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"References","content":"\u003col\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eShelton RC, Lee M, Brotzman LE, Wolfenden L, Nathan N, Wainberg ML. 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Assessment of blood donation and transfusion in Eastern Uganda: A mixed-methods study. Annals of global health. 2019;85(1). doi:10.5334/aogh.2426. 10.5334/aogh.2426\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eMalako D, Yoseph F, Bekele ML. Assessment of knowledge, attitude and practice and associated factors of blood donation among health care workers in Ethiopia: a cross-sectional study. BMC hematology. 2019;19(1):1\u0026ndash;8. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12878-019-0140-9\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eBantayehu D. Knowledge, attitude and practice of voluntary blood donation and associated factors among Health Care Providers in Addis Ababa health Facilities, Ethiopia. Occup Med Health Aff. 2015;3(209):2.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eNigatu A, Demissie D. Knowledge, attitude and practice on voluntary blood donation and associated factors among Ambo University Regular Students, Ambo Town, Ethiopia. J Community Med Health Educ. 2014;4(5):6\u0026ndash;6. http://dx.doi.org/10.4172/2161-0711.1000315\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eWasaka A. Uganda needs 450,000 units of blood annually to save lives. 2022. https://www.monitor.co.ug/uganda/news/national/uganda-needs-450-000-units-of-blood-annually-to-save-lives-3852304.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eUBTS. Challenges facing Uganda Blood Transfusion Services. 2017. https://uukha.org/addressing-challenges-in-uganda-blood-transfusion-services-through-capacity-building/.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eIbrahim AA, Ko\u0026ccedil; M, Abdallah AM. Knowledge level, motivators and barriers of blood donation among students at Qatar University. 2021. MDPI: 926. https://www.monitor.co.ug/uganda/news/national/uganda-needs-450-000-units-of-blood-annually-to-save-lives-3852304\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eAlfouzan N. Knowledge, attitudes, and motivations towards blood donation among King Abdulaziz Medical City population. International journal of family medicine. 2014. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2014/539670. https://doi.org/10.1155/2014/539670\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eShakeri M, Vafaee A, Esmaeily H, Shafiei N, Bazargani R, Khayamy M. The causes for lack of interest to blood donation in eligible individuals, mashhad, northeastern iran. Iranian Red Crescent Medical Journal. 2012;14(1):37.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eOlukya G. Uganda faces blood shortage as people shun donations due to corruption, superstition. 2022. https://www.aa.com.tr/en/africa/uganda-faces-blood-shortage-as-people-shun-donations-due-to-corruption-superstition/2581026.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eAgaba V. 95% of blood donors are students. New Vision Newspaper. 2014. https://www.newvision.co.ug/news/1311896/-blood-donors-students.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eVoice of America. 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Nigerian medical journal: journal of the Nigeria Medical Association. 2020;61(3):163. 10.4103/nmj.NMJ_177_19\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eMakin JK, Francis KL, Polonsky MJ, Renzaho A. Interventions to increase blood donation among ethnic/racial minorities: a systematic review. Journal of environmental and public health. 2019;2019. https://doi.org/10.1155/2019/6810959\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eAnwer MO, Fawwad SHU, Anwer S, Ali A. Attitude toward blood donation among medical and nonmedical students across Karachi. Asian journal of transfusion science. 2016;10(2):113. doi: 10.4103/0973-6247.187937\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eDejene M, Tefera A, Dires A, Gedamu S, Getachew Y, Ademe S. Low blood donation practice of health sciences college students in Northeast Ethiopia: a cross-sectional study. Journal of blood medicine. 2021;43\u0026ndash;51.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eKarugaba H, Nantongo H. Barriers to Blood Donation Among Mbarara University of Science and Technology Students. 2021. http://ir.must.ac.ug/xmlui/handle/123456789/1246\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eViwattanakulvanid P, Chan Oo A. Influencing factors and gaps of blood donation knowledge among university and college students in Myanmar: a cross-sectional study. Journal of Health Research. 2022;36(1):176\u0026ndash;184. https://doi.org/10.1108/JHR-10-2020-0500\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eUganda Bureau of Statistics. The Uganda National Household Survey (UNHS) 2019/2020. 2021: Uganda Bureau of Statistics. https://www.ubos.org/wp-content/uploads/publications/09_2021Uganda-National-Survey-Report-2019-2020.pdf\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eSharma R, Madan N, Venkatesh S, Ichhpujani R, Lal S. Factors influencing blood donations and the rational use of blood. The Journal of Communicable Diseases. 2010;42(3):185\u0026ndash;190.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eDobbins M, Greco L, Yost J, Traynor R, Decorby-Watson K, Yousefi-Nooraie R. A description of a tailored knowledge translation intervention delivered by knowledge brokers within public health departments in Canada. Health Research Policy and Systems. 2019;17(1):1\u0026ndash;8. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12961-019-0460-z\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eWood K, Giannopoulos V, Louie E, Baillie A, Uribe G, Lee KS, et al. The role of clinical champions in facilitating the use of evidence-based practice in drug and alcohol and mental health settings: A systematic review. Implementation Research and Practice. 2020;1:2633489520959072. https://doi.org/10.1177/2633489520959072\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ol\u003e"}],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":true,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":true,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":false,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":false,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"Communication strategies, blood donation, knowledge and students","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-3976149/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-3976149/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eIntroduction: \u003c/strong\u003eSecondary school going students in Uganda are the biggest source of blood donated, contributing about 95% to the country’s supplies. However, students are hesitant to donate blood due to inadequate knowledge and misinformation. During the COVID 19 lockdown in Uganda, blood stock outs reached a critical level emphasizing the need to build awareness among potential donors. We packaged, shared and evaluated the effect of context appropriate information, education and communication materials on blood donation in order to increase awareness and blood donation practices among secondary school students. \u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eMethods: \u003c/strong\u003eWe conducted a single group before and after study among students in four secondary schools in Jinja and Mayuge district. First, we conducted a baseline survey to assess the students’ knowledge, willingness and blood donation practices. We then shared information, education and communication materials both virtually and in print (i.e., videos, blogs and fact sheets) on the different aspects of blood donation with the students. After three months we conducted an end-line survey to determine if there was change in knowledge and practices from baseline to end-line. Data were entered using Microsoft Access and analysed in STATA 14.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eResults: \u003c/strong\u003eWe included 1,192 students. The proportion of students who were knowledgeable about blood donation significantly increased from 28.3% at the baseline to 42.9% at end-line (X\u003csup\u003e2 \u003c/sup\u003ep-value = 0.000). However, there was no significant difference in the proportion of students who donated blood at baseline and end-line (23.4% at baseline and 20.4% at end-line, X\u003csup\u003e2 \u003c/sup\u003ep-value = 0.298). Factors associated with knowledge about blood donation at end-line included level of education [PR=1.37 (1.05, 1.79), p-value = 0.019] and access to internet [PR=1.61 (1.61, 2.24), p-value = 0.004]. Those who knew someone who had ever donated blood were more likely to donate blood at end-line [PR = 4.85 (1.78, 13.19), p-value = 0.002].\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eConclusion: \u003c/strong\u003eUsing contextually relevant and age-appropriate ICE materials increases awareness about blood donation in secondary schools. Use of champions (former donors) and appropriate channels for communication such as online platforms and former donors can enhance awareness. A prolonged period of awareness creation and opportunities to donate is required to demonstrate change in donation practices.\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"Evaluating the effect of targeted knowledge sharing on blood donation awareness and practices among secondary school students: A quasi-experimental study in Eastern Uganda","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2024-04-11 16:48:59","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-3976149/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"11cd2f13-71e9-4ea3-b0be-2508a15a0bd1","owner":[],"postedDate":"April 11th, 2024","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"posted","subjectAreas":[],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2024-05-04T21:39:15+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2024-04-11 16:48:59","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-3976149","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-3976149","identity":"rs-3976149","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"8U1c8b4HqxoKbykW_rLl7","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}