ABO and Rhesus Blood Group Distribution and Blood Donation Willingness Among First-Year Health Students in a Saudi University

Figures & data

Table 1 Sociodemographic Characteristics of Participants

Variable		N (%)	[95% CI]
Age	17 years	145 (12.7)	[10.8–14.6]
	18 years	921 (80.4)	[78.1–82.7]
	19 years	79 (6.9)	[5.4–8.4]
Gender	Female	629 (54.9)	[52.0–57.8]
	Male	516 (45.1)	[42.2–48.0]
Marital Status	Single	1135 (99.1)	[98.6–99.6)
	Married	10 (0.9)	[0.4–1.4]
Origin in Saudi Arabia	Eastern Province	825 (72.1)	[69.5–74.7]
	Central Province	84 (7.3)	[5.8–8.8]
	Northern Province	55 (4.8)	[3.6–6.0]
	Western Province	61 (5.3)	[4.0–6.6]
	Southern Province	120 (10.5)	[8.7–12.3]
Have Chronic Diseases	Yes	120 (10.5)	[8.7–12.3]
	No	1025 (89.5)	[87.7–91.3]
Paternal Education	Less Than Secondary School	124 (10.8)	[9.0–12.6]
	Secondary School	319 (27.9)	[25.3–30.5]
	Diploma or Bachelor	569 (49.7)	[46.8–52.6]
	Master or Doctorate	133 (11.6)	[9.7–13.5]
Maternal Education	Less Than Secondary School	167 (14.6)	[12.6–16.6]
	Secondary School	306 (26.7)	[24.1–29.3]
	Diploma or Bachelor	629 (54.9)	[52.0–57.8]
	Master or Doctorate	43 (3.8)	[2.7–4.9]
Have HCW in the Family	Yes	464 (40.5)	[37.7–43.3]
	No	681 (59.5)	[56.7–62.3]

Abbreviations: N, Number of participants; HCW, Healthcare workers; CI, confidence interval.

Table 2 ABO and Rh Blood Groups According to Demographic Factors

Variable		ABO Group				P value	Rh Positive N (%)	P value
		A N (%)	B N (%)	AB N (%)	O N (%)
Age	17 years	42 (29.0)	27 (18.6)	7 (4.8)	69 (47.6)	0.142	136 (93.8)	0.951
	18 years	225 (24.4)	191 (20.7)	32 (3.5)	473 (51.4)		858 (93.2)
	19 years	13 (16.5)	16 (20.3)	7 (8.9)	43 (54.4)		74 (93.7)
Gender	Female	137 (21.8)	134 (21.3)	24 (3.8)	334 (53.1)	0.120	591 (94.0)	0.308
	Male	143 (27.7)	100 (19.4)	22 (4.3)	251 (48.6)		477 (92.4)
Origin in Saudi Arabia (Province)	Eastern	195 (23.6)	184 (22.3)	32 (3.9)	414 (50.2)	0.032	779 (94.4)	0.003
	Central	21 (25.0)	22 (26.2)	4 (4.8)	37 (44.0)		71 (84.5)
	Northern	10 (18.2)	11 (20.0)	3 (5.5)	31 (56.4)		54 (98.2)
	Western	17 (27.9)	8 (13.1)	4 (6.6)	32 (52.5)		55 (90.2)
	Southern	37 (30.8)	9 (7.5)	3 (2.5)	71 (59.2)		109 (90.8)

Note: P values are in bold if statistically significant.

Abbreviation: N, Number of participants.

Table 3 Self-Reported and Serology Results of Participants’ Blood Groups

Blood groups		Serology Result
ABO Groups		A N (%)	B N (%)	AB N (%)	O N (%)
Self-Reported	A	223 (89.9)	7 (2.8)	4 (1.6)	14 (5.7)
	B	3 (1.6)	177 (91.7)	2 (1.0)	11 (5.7)
	AB	1 (2.6)	2 (5.1)	35 (89.7)	1 (2.6)
	O	13 (2.5)	14 (2.6)	0 (0)	503 (94.9)
	Not Sure	40 (29.6)	34 (25.2)	5 (3.7)	56 (41.5)
Rh Groups		Positive N (%)		Negative N (%)
Self-Reported	Positive	875 (98.1)		17 (1.9)
	Negative	35 (40.2)		52 (59.8)
	Not Sure	158 (95.2)		8 (4.8)

Note: Correctly identified blood groups are in bold.

Abbreviation: N, Number of participants.

Table 4 Good Knowledge About the Self-Blood Groups in Participants

Variable		Good Knowledge About Self-Blood Group
		ABO Group N (%)	P value	Rh Factor N (%)	P value
Age	17 years	118 (81.4)	0.687	115 (79.3)	0.160
	18 years	758 (82.3)		754 (81.9)
	19 years	62 (78.5)		58 (73.4)
Gender	Female	478 (76.0)	<0.001	478 (76.0)	<0.001
	Male	460 (89.1)		449 (87.0)
Marital Status	Single	931 (82.0)	0.400	919 (81.0)	1.000
	Married	7 (70.0)		8 (80.0)
Paternal Education	Less Than Secondary School	100 (80.6)	0.531	95 (76.6)	0.591
	Secondary School	254 (79.6)		258 (80.9)
	Diploma or Bachelor	475 (83.5)		464 (81.5)
	Master or Doctorate	109 (82.0)		110 (82.7)
Maternal Education	Less Than Secondary School	138 (82.6)	0.712	136 (81.4)	0.850
	Secondary School	244 (79.7)		251 (82.0)
	Diploma or Bachelor	520 (82.7)		507 (80.6)
	Master or Doctorate	36 (83.7)		33 (76.7)
Chronic Disease	Yes	100 (83.3)	0.671	97 (80.8)	0.970
	No	838 (81.8)		830 (81.0)
HCW in Family	Yes	385 (83.0)	0.445	393 (84.7)	0.008
	No	553 (81.2)		534 (78.4)
Donated Blood	Yes	60 (90.9)	0.049	62 (93.9)	0.006
	No	878 (81.4)		865 (80.2)
Received Blood	Yes	13 (76.5)	0.528	12 (70.6)	0.344
	No	925 (82.0)		915 (81.1)
Had Surgery	Yes	187 (83.1)	0.605	187 (83.1)	0.359
	No	751 (81.6)		740 (80.4)

Note: P values are in bold if statistically significant.

Abbreviations: N, Number of participants; HCW, Healthcare workers.

Table 5 Willingness to Donate Blood Next Year in Participants

Variable				Willingness to Donate Blood
				N	(%)	P value
Age	17 years			72	(49.7)	0.152
	18 years			425	(46.1)
	19 years			45	(57.0)
Gender	Female			244	(38.8)	<0.001
	Male			298	(57.8)
Marital Status	Single			536	(47.2)	0.531
	Married			6	(60.0)
Paternal Education	Less Than Secondary School			63	(50.8)	0.341
	Secondary School			146	(45.8)
	Diploma or Bachelor			278	(48.9)
	Master or Doctorate			55	(47.3)
Maternal Education	Less Than Secondary School			89	(53.3)	0.121
	Secondary School			135	(44.1)
	Diploma or Bachelor			293	(46.6)
	Master or Doctorate			25	(58.1)
Chronic Diseases	Yes			45	(37.5)	0.023
	No			497	(48.5)
HCW in Family	Yes			202	(43.5)	0.033
	No			340	(49.9)
Donated Blood	Yes			55	(83.3)	<0.001
	No			487	(45.1)
Received Blood	Yes			9	(52.9)	0.641
	No			533	(47.3)
Good Knowledge about Self-Blood Groups		ABO	Yes	441	(47.0)	0.643
			No	101	(48.8)
		Rh	Yes	446	(48.1)	0.278
			No	96	(44.0)
		Both	Yes	414	(47.9)	0.490
			No	128	(45.6)

Note: P values are in bold if statistically significant.

Abbreviations: N, Number of participants; HCW, Healthcare workers.

Table 6 Multivariable Regression of Factors Associated with Willingness to Donate Next Year

Variables		Univariable Logistic Regression			Multivariable Logistic Regression
		OR	[95% CI]	P value	OR	[95% CI]	P value
Age	17 years	1.0	Reference Group		1.0	Reference Group
	18 years	0.87	[0.61–1.23]	0.431	0.82	[0.57–1.17]	0.268
	19 years	1.34	[0.77–2.33]	0.296	1.09	[0.62–1.94]	0.758
Male Gender		2.16	[1.70–2.73]	<0.001	1.91	[1.50–2.44]	<0.001
Have Chronic Diseases		0.64	[0.43–0.94]	0.023	0.64	[0.43–0.96]	0.031
Donated Blood Previously		6.08	[3.15–11.74]	<0.001	4.57	[2.33–8.94]	<0.001
Have HCW in the Family		0.77	[0.61–0.98]	0.034	0.76	[0.59–0.97]	0.026

Note: P values are in bold if statistically significant.

Abbreviations: OR, odds ratio; CI, confidence interval; HCW, healthcare workers.