Background: Blood transfusion is essential in healthcare, yet Nigeria faces chronic blood shortages, transfusion-transmissible infections, and reliance on replacement/commercial donors. Autologous blood donation (ABD) reduces donor-related risks but remains underutilised. Healthcare workers’ (HCWs) attitudes likely influence its adoption.
Methodology: A cross-sectional survey was conducted in August 2025 at the Federal University of Health Sciences Teaching Hospital, Azare, Nigeria. Medical doctors, nurses/midwives, and medical laboratory scientists involved in transfusion-related care were recruited via stratified random sampling. Of 547 eligible HCWs, 249 were selected; after 12 exclusions (unavailable), 237 participated. A structured, pretested self-administered questionnaire (Cronbach’s α = 0.7) assessed attitude through five Likert-scale items on safety, willingness to recommend, support for routine use, perceived resources, and cost-worth. A composite attitude score was created from the four items focused on attitude. Data were analysed using SPSS 26 with descriptive statistics, chi-square, and Fisher’s exact tests (p ≤ 0.05).
Results: The 237 participants comprised 59 doctors (24.9%), 162 nurses/midwives (68.4%), and 16 medical laboratory scientists (6.7%). The mean age was 32.97 ± 9.6 years; 55.7% were female. Overall, 79.7% had a positive attitude (composite score ≥4). Positive attitudes were significantly associated with professional cadre (p < 0.001) but not with gender (p = 0.18), age group (p = 0.32), years of experience (p = 0.41), or marital status (p = 0.76). Across all groups, most respondents perceived ABD as safe and were willing to recommend it, though fewer agreed that workplace resources were adequate.
Conclusion: HCWs generally have favourable attitudes towards ABD. Cadre-related differences and pervasive resource concerns highlight the need for targeted training, standardised protocols, and strengthened institutional support to translate positive attitudes into routine ABD practice.
