Association between religiousness and blood donation among Brazilian postgraduate students from health-related areas

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to examine the association between religiousness and blood donation among postgraduate students. METHODS: The Portuguese-language version of the Duke University Religion Index was administered to a sample of 226 Brazilian students with ages ranging from 22 to 55 years. All study participants had completed undergraduate courses in health-related areas. RESULTS: In the present study, 23.5% of the students were regular donors. Organizational religiousness was found to be associated with attitudes related to blood donation. This study also shows evidence that regular blood donors have a higher intrinsic religiousness than subjects who donate only once and do not return. CONCLUSION: This study shows that the attitudes concerning blood donation may have some association with religiosity.