In the United States, blood product availability is dependent entirely on donations from volunteer blood donors. Current trends in blood collection and utilization raise concerns about the ability to meet future demands for blood products. At a time of high demand and deferrals, the Armed Services Blood Program has been unable to meet its requirements for blood and consequently needs to purchase blood from civilian agencies to meet the dual demands of the military community at home, as well as those deployed around the world. This creates a need to better understand the military blood donor in an effort to recruit and retain those relative few who are willing and eligible to donate. The purpose of this survey-based research is to characterize the demographics of the military blood donor and to understand, through descriptive and regression analysis, the relationship between a donor’s attitude, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control and their intention to donate blood again in the next six months. The study uses the framework of the theory of planned behavior to design the survey and evaluate relationships between the theoretical constructs. Descriptive analysis results of the sample demographics describe the typical respondent as White, young, male, and a junior service member. Results of the multivariate regression analysis showed that a respondent’s attitude toward blood donation and perceived behavioral control over donating blood were positively related to their intention to donate again in the next six months. However, contrary to the theory, there was no statistically significant relationship between the influence of subjective norms and intention to donate again. This study is the first to apply a theoretical framework to identify those factors that influence a military blood donor to donate blood. Further, it has taken steps to provide a clear description of the typical military blood donor. Future experimental research can now be designed with the aim of developing efficient and effective blood donor recruiting and retention campaigns. Specifically, the understanding of the demographics of the population allows targeted interventions to underrepresented groups, and theoretical research will further guide interventions that target those important motivational factors influencing blood donation.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:vcu.edu/oai:scholarscompass.vcu.edu:etd-3227 |
| Date | 12 July 2010 |
| Creators | Schnaubelt, Andrew |
| Publisher | VCU Scholars Compass |
| Source Sets | Virginia Commonwealth University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | Theses and Dissertations |
| Rights | © The Author |
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