Scientific Journal of

A B S T R A C T
Background and Objectives
Voluntary blood donation plays a crucial role in saving lives, requiring both adequate knowledge and a positive attitude. The study aimed to compare the knowledge and attitude of medical and non-medical studens regarding blood donation while identifying the challenges associated with the process. 
Materials and Methods
This cross-sectional study, involved 356 students from Ardabil including 176 from the University of Medical Sciences and 180 non-medical students. Stratified random sampling was used to ensure representative distribution. Data were collected in June 2024 through a researcher-made questionnaire with established validity and reliability. Mean, standard deviation, chi-square and t-tests was conducted using SPSS24.
Results
The knowledge scores ranged from between 0 to 32 points. The average knowledge score was 16.7±7.03 in the medical sciences group and 13.49±9.11 in non-medical group. With an overall average score of 14.95±8.07. Within the medical sciences students, male students exhibited a higher average knowledge score (18.01±6.32) compared to female students (15.68±7.33), a statistically significant differance (p=0.029). Knowledge level showed that 34.1% of non-medical students had low knowledge, while only 18.8% of medical students fell into this category. Attitude scores ranged between 0 and 72. The average attitude score was 41.56±9.11 among medical students and 40.07±7.36 among non-medical students with no significant difference. The overall average attitude score was 40.78±8.24. The attitude leveled were categorised as average for 96% of medical students and 90.5% of non-medical students. The primary barriers to blood donation from students' perspective included fear of needles (52%), lack of awareness (49.2%), and concerns about their health and risk of anemia (46.6%). 
Conclusions  
Students demonstrated a moderate level of  knowledge and attitude toward blood donation while medical University students had greater awareness compared to non-medical students, the diffrence in attitude between the two groups of students was not significant. Overall, students' knowledge and attitude toward blood donation remains inadequate, presenting several challenges. It is necessary to design and implement educational programs by the Blood Transfusion Organization and universities along side awareness campaigns in mass media.