[Non-donor patients' opinions about general practitioners' influence on first blood donation]

Needs for labile blood products are continuously increasing in France. National self-sufficiency is currently achieved because important promotional efforts for blood donation have resulted in more than three million donations per year. Despite the peculiar relationship general practitioners (GPs) have with every patient and with public health actions, GPs are not included in the blood donation promotion chain. In this study, the main goal was to determine, from a non-donor patient's point of view, whether a discussion with their GP could be an efficient tool in blood donation promotion. The study was also designed to identify barriers to donation and information patients would expect from their GPs in such a discussion.

This was an epidemiological analytical cross-sectional and multicenter study. All patients aged 18 to 70 years attending a GP's clinic in Nord-Pas-de-Calais was asked to complete a seven-item closed-question survey. The primary endpoint was the percentage of patients who stated that the discussion with their GP could be an efficient tool for promoting blood donation.

One thousand and forty-eight surveys were included in the analysis. Four hundred and fifty of the 660 non-donors interviewed (68.2 %) declared that a discussion with their GP could encourage them in the blood donation process. Non-donors declared that lack of time was the main barrier (33.5 %) and that they expected information from their GP about when and where they could donate blood (40.3 %).

Many non-donor patients attending primary care clinics declare that a discussion with their GP could encourage them to make a blood donation and therefore significantly increase the number of potential donors.