Evidence-based selection criteria to protect blood donors

A safe and adequate blood supply depends on healthy, volunteer blood donors. Blood centers have instituted various screening procedures in an effort to determine that donors are free of diseases that can be transmitted to patients by blood transfusion and are able to tolerate the collection procedure without experiencing significant complications. This review focuses on selection criteria intended to minimize the risk to the blood donor. Defining a rational, evidence-based approach to donor selection is crucial not only to take reasonable precautions to protect the donors' health but also to eliminate practices that lead to the unnecessary deferral of large numbers of people without improving the safety of the donation process. Donor selection criteria, including predonation pulse and blood pressure, donor weight and total blood volume, minimum hemoglobin and donation interval, are considered against the available evidence that support or suggest the need to modify the current approach to protect blood donor health.