Efficacy of interventions promoting blood donation: a systematic review

Findings about the efficacy of interventions promoting blood donation are scattered and sometime inconsistent. The aim of the present systematic review was to identify the most effective types of interventions and modes of delivery to increase blood donation. The following databases were investigated: MEDLINE/PubMed, PsycINFO, CINAHL, EMBASE, and Proquest Dissertations and Theses. Additional studies were also included by checking the references of the articles included in the review and by looking at our personal collection. The outcomes of interest were either blood drive attendance or blood donations. A total of 29 randomized controlled trials or quasi-experimental studies were included in the review, detailing 36 interventions tested among independent samples. Interventions targeting psychosocial cognitions (s = 8, s to represent the number of independent samples; odds ratio [OR], 2.47; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.42-4.28), those stressing the altruistic motives to give blood (s = 4; OR, 3.89; 95% CI, 1.03-14.76), and reminders (s = 7; OR, 1.91; 95% CI, 1.22-2.99) were the most successful in increasing blood donation. The results suggest that motivational interventions and reminders are the most effective in increasing blood donation, but additional studies are needed to evaluate the efficacy of other types of interventions.