Blood Donation Worry Scale

Abstract

The Blood Donation Worry Scale (Hu et al., 2023) is a 14-item questionnaire designed to evaluate individuals’ perspectives, cognitive processes, concerns, and willingness to donate blood, particularly in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. This scale was developed through a comprehensive approach involving interviews with blood donors, a review of relevant literature, and drawing upon existing instruments such as the Blood Donation Anxiety Scale (Qiuyue et al., 2021; Hu et al., 2022) and the Negative Outcome Expectation Scale (Hu et al., 2022). The scale was administered to a sample of adults in China. The reported data include internal consistency. Furthermore, an 8-item subset of the Blood Donation Worry Scale was utilized to compare results with data from a cross-sectional study conducted in Zhejiang province (Q Hu, unpublished data, March 2022) before COVID-19 was classified as an epidemic in the region.

Keywords

Adverse Reactions; Anxiety; Blood Donation; COVID-19; Donation Experience; Pandemic; Theory of Planned Behavior

Authors

Hu, Qiuyue; Hu, Wei; Pan, Lingling; Han, Wenjuan; Zheng, Yue

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Purpose

The primary objective of this measure is to assess respondents’ views, cognition, worries, and their intention to donate blood specifically within the challenging environment of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Validity

No data is Available.

Reliability

Internal Consistency: The Blood Donation Worry Scale demonstrated strong internal consistency, with a Cronbach’s alpha of 0.911. Additionally, the Guttman split-half coefficient was reported as 0.879, further supporting the scale’s reliability.

Factor Analysis

No data is Available.

Instrument

Test Type: The Blood Donation Worry Scale is an original instrument, designed as an Inventory/Questionnaire.

Format: The items within the scale are rated on a 5-point Likert-type scale.

Language Available: The scale is available in English.

Population Group: This instrument is designed for human participants, including both male and female individuals.

Age Group: The scale is applicable to adults aged 18 years and older, encompassing Young Adulthood (18-29 years), Thirties (30-39 years), and Middle Age (40-64 years). The specific age range for respondents is 18-60 years.

Population Details: The target respondents are adults located in China.

Test Methodology: The methodology employed for testing involved assessing reliability, specifically through measures of internal consistency.

Keywords

Blood; Health Attitudes; Pandemics; Tissue Donation; Reasoned Action; Health Attitude Measures; Health Anxiety; COVID-19; Public Health Attitudes

Authors

Author ORCID Identifier:

• Hu, Qiuyue: orcid.org/0000-0002-2392-7736

• Hu, Wei: orcid.org/0000-0002-8382-8510

• Pan, Lingling: orcid.org/0000-0002-4178-1910

• Zheng, Yue: orcid.org/0000-0002-5855-6867

Affiliation:

All authors are affiliated with the Blood Center of Zhejiang Province.

• Hu, Qiuyue: Blood Center of Zhejiang Province

• Hu, Wei: Blood Center of Zhejiang Province

• Pan, Lingling: Blood Center of Zhejiang Province

• Han, Wenjuan: Blood Center of Zhejiang Province

• Zheng, Yue: Blood Center of Zhejiang Province

Email addresses:

• Hu, Wei: [email protected]

Correspondence Address:

Hu, Wei: Blood Center of Zhejiang Province, 789 Jianye Road, Binjiang District, Hangzhou, China, 310052, [email protected]

Permissions & Fee and Test Year

Permissions: The Blood Donation Worry Scale can be used for research and teaching purposes. The licensing information is available at creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/deed.en.

Commercial Use: No commercial use is permitted.

Fee: There is no fee associated with the use of this scale.

Test Year: The scale was developed and tested in 2023.

References

Hu, Q., Hu, W., Pan, L., Han, W., & Zheng, Y. (2023). Association between concerns about COVID-19 infection and blood donation intention: Cross-sectional survey study through a mobile communication platform. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 25, Article e46588. doi.org/10.2196/46588

Items of the Blood Donation Worry Scale

The Blood Donation Worry Scale consists of 14 items. The specific items can be found in Figure 1, Page 4, and Table 3, Page 7 of the source reference (2024-27716-001). The administration method for the scale is electronic. The factors and subscales identified within the instrument include Attitude, Perceived behavior control, Subjective norm, Blood donation anxiety, and Negative outcome expectation.

Blood Donation Worry Scale

Items

Have you experienced any concerns (hereinafter referred to as “blood donation worries regarding COVID-19”) about your capacity to donate blood subsequent to a COVID-19 infection (confirmed or presumed)? Specifically, this pertains to the psychological state of reluctance to donate blood, even when policy and physiological conditions permit it. It also encompasses the behavior of individuals who participate in blood donation but still harbor reservations.

• Yes/No

In accordance with your current situation, please select the option that most accurately reflects your perspective in the following statements:
A. Completely disagree
B. Disagree
C. Neutral/Don’t know
D. Agree
E. Completely agree

• Item a: Blood donation is harmful to health.

• Item b: Blood donation will result in temporary weakness.

• Item c: I am apprehensive about adverse reactions to blood donation.

• Item d: Donated blood may be contaminated with diseases.

• Item e: Blood donation will heighten the risk of COVID-19 infection or secondary infection.

• Item f: Family members or friends would express concern if I were to participate in blood donation.

• Item g: Family members or friends would experience displeasure or anger if I participated in blood donation.

• Item h: My family would express disapproval of my decision to donate blood.

• Item i: The location and operational hours of the blood donation site were inconvenient for me.

• Item j: While blood donation was voluntary and unremunerated, I am concerned that the collected blood was utilized for profit.

• Item k: I am fearful of needles used for blood donation.

• Item l: I am concerned that my physiological state does not fulfill the requirements for blood donation.

• Item m: Dissatisfaction with previous blood donation experiences (either personal or relayed by others) has contributed to my apprehension regarding blood donation.

• Item n: Should I be requested to donate blood again, I anticipate feeling distressed and anxious.