Abstract
Background and Objectives
To encourage women to embark on blood donation, the opinions and factors that impede blood donation should be identified. The purpose of this study was to investigate factors affecting participation of women in blood donation.
 
Materials and Methods
In this cross-sectional study, the questionnaires were completed by 250 female staff of Tabriz University of Medical Sciences. Data were analyzed using Pearson correlation, one-way ANOVA and regression analysis.
 
Results
93.6% of people claimed blood donation is a humanitarian act, and 81.2% claimed "anemia" is barrier of blood donation. Regression analysis showed that there was a negative and significant relationship between knowledge and motivating factors that have impact on blood donation (p= 0.003), but barriers score did not show a significant correlation with women participation (p= 0.515). Based on the results of independent T-test, the relationship of marital status was not significant as compared with the knowledge  score (p = 0.834),  with  the  barriers score (p= 0.434), and with that of motivating factors (p = 0.615). Education level has not significantly correlated with the knowledge score (p = 0.510) but there was a significant negative correlation with barriers variable in blood donation (p = 0.17).
 
Conclusions 
According to the results, most of the participants in this study considered fear of anemia and fear of test results as barrier of blood donation. Therefore, establishing basic education and training programs to eliminate the wrong beliefs about blood donation would help encourage women as healthy sources of blood donors.