Background and Purpose: Despite improvements in medical sciences, many people use traditional or complimentary medicine. One of traditional methods is bloodletting. The aim of this study was to provide scientific evidence about motivation and satisfaction rate for bloodletting.

Methods and Materials: This cross sectional study carried out on 272 patients referred to phlebotomy centers in Yazd city by convenience sampling method. Motivation and satisfaction of participants was assessed by a Self-administered questionnaire. Satisfaction rate was measured by a Likert scale: very satisfied, satisfied, no idea, dissatisfied and very dissatisfied. Motivations were categorized as prior knowledge of the impact of cupping, friend's recommendation, religious belief and doctor recommendation. Data was analyzed by chi-square test.

Results: The mean age of participants was 34.2±14.7 years. 67.3% of participants were male, 65.4% were married and 61.5% had educational level of diploma or lower. Prior knowledge of the impact of cupping (46.3%) and friend's recommendation (37.9%) was the more frequent motivations. 35.3% of patients were very satisfied and 48.9% were satisfied. The main cause of satisfaction was feeling of exhilaration and lightness (54.4%) after bloodletting. None of the agents had any significant relationship with satisfaction.

Conclusion: This study showed high satisfaction with bloodletting in Yazd. Prior knowledge of the impact of cupping and friend's recommendation was the more frequent motivations. Further studies in other provinces and the role of cupping in different diseases are recommended.