Blood Donation Worry Scale

Abstract

The Blood Donation Worry Scale (BDWS), developed by Hu et al. (2023), is a 14-item questionnaire designed to assess the psychological barriers, cognitive processes, and willingness of individuals to engage in blood donation, particularly within the challenging context of the COVID-19 pandemic. The scale development followed a rigorous methodology, incorporating qualitative data from donor interviews and a detailed review of existing psychometric instruments, including the Blood Donation Anxiety Scale and the Negative Outcome Expectation Scale. The BDWS was validated using data collected from a sample of adults in China. Initial psychometric reporting focused on demonstrating strong internal consistency. Furthermore, a reduced 8-item version of the BDWS was employed to facilitate comparison with baseline data gathered in Zhejiang province prior to the region’s classification of COVID-19 as an epidemic.

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

Purpose

The primary objective of the Blood Donation Worry Scale (BDWS) is to systematically measure the specific views, cognitive appraisals, and worries held by potential donors that may inhibit their intention to donate blood. This assessment is crucially focused on understanding and quantifying these psychological obstacles within the environment shaped by the COVID-19 pandemic and its associated health anxieties.

By identifying the core concerns—ranging from fear of infection to concerns about health outcomes and social disapproval—the scale provides public health officials and blood centers with actionable data to design targeted interventions aimed at maintaining adequate blood supply during public health crises.

Construct

The Blood Donation Worry Scale measures the construct of psychological barriers and anxieties related to the act of blood donation. This worry is defined as the psychological state of reluctance to donate, even when policies and physiological conditions permit participation. The scale integrates several key theoretical components derived from established behavioral models, such as the Theory of Planned Behavior.

The instrument is multidimensional, encompassing several factors and subscales that contribute to overall donation worry. These underlying dimensions include:

• Attitude towards blood donation.
• Perceived behavior control (perceived ease or difficulty of donation).
• Subjective norm (social pressure or approval from peers/family).
• Blood donation anxiety (general fear associated with the process).
• Negative outcome expectation (anticipated negative health or social consequences).

Validity

No data is Available regarding the specific validity measures (e.g., construct, convergent, or discriminant validity) for the Blood Donation Worry Scale in the initial publication.

Reliability

The Blood Donation Worry Scale demonstrated robust evidence of reliability based on measures of internal consistency during its initial testing phase.

The overall scale exhibited a strong degree of homogeneity, indicated by a Cronbach’s alpha coefficient of 0.911. Furthermore, the reliability was supported by a reported Guttman split-half coefficient of 0.879, confirming that the items within the 14-item instrument consistently measure the latent construct of blood donation worry.

Factor Analysis

No data is Available regarding the factor structure or confirmatory/exploratory factor analysis results for the Blood Donation Worry Scale in the source documentation.

Instrument

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

Format: The 14 items comprising the scale are rated using a 5-point Likert-type scale, ranging from “Completely disagree” to “Completely agree.”

Language Available: The scale is available in English.

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

Age Group: The scale is applicable to adults aged 18 years and older, specifically targeting the range of 18 to 60 years. This encompasses Young Adulthood (18-29 years), Thirties (30-39 years), and Middle Age (40-64 years).

Population Details: The target respondents for the initial validation study were adults located in China.

Test Methodology: The primary methodology employed for initial validation involved assessing psychometric properties, specifically focusing on 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 Email addresses: All authors are affiliated with the Blood Center of Zhejiang Province. The corresponding author’s email is [email protected] (Hu, Wei).

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

Permissions & Fee and Test Year

The Blood Donation Worry Scale is licensed for use under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0). The licensing information is available at creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/deed.en.

Permissions: The scale can be utilized for research and teaching purposes.

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 initially tested in 2023.

Reference’s

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 factors and subscales identified within the instrument include Attitude, Perceived behavior control, Subjective norm, Blood donation anxiety, and Negative outcome expectation. The administration method for the scale is electronic.

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.