How barriers to blood donation differ between lapsed donors and non-donors in France

Blood donors are underrepresented in the general population. Thus, comparing barriers to blood donation between non-donors and lapsed donors is crucial to improving their participation in blood donation and to targeting theses groups in recruitment programmes. The aims of this study were to identify barriers to blood donation and to compare their occurrence between lapsed and non-donors in France. Data from a 2008 survey of 1400 individuals were used to evaluate differences in barriers between two subpopulations: 619 non-donors and 567 lapsed donors. Individuals answered questions concerning sociodemographic variables and donation-related variables. Results show that, in decreasing order, individuals cited medical reasons (32%), lack of time (15.12%), fear (12.20%), negligence (10.03%), lack of information (7.69%), no particular reason (7.18%), lack of solicitation (6.18%), lack of opportunity (5.18%) and prior deferral (4.43%) as barriers to blood donation. After adjusted analysis, non-donors mentioned fear, lack of information and no particular reason more often than lapsed donors, who cited lack of time more often than non-donors. This study has pinpointed nine main barriers to blood donation among the French population, the most significant being medical reasons (for both lapsed and non-donors), lack of time, cited more frequently by lapsed donors, and fear of donating blood, most often cited by non-donors. Future studies are needed to gain greater insight into what these barriers represent for individuals to improve awareness and for recruitment of French blood donors.