Blood donors in Iceland: a nationwide population-based study from 2005 to 2013

Demographic information of blood donors is important to formulate strategies for recruitment and maintenance of the donor group. Factors like aging population, increasingly advanced medical treatments, and growing safety initiatives to protect donors and recipients of blood components are likely to affect the size of the donor group in the future. The purpose of this study was to determine the size of the donor group in Iceland and describe the demographic and donation characteristics.

The size of the Icelandic donor group was determined and the demographic and donation characteristics described, particularly of all newly registered and whole blood donors in the country from 2005 to 2013.

Overall the prevalence of whole blood donors per population decreased by 24.2% between 2005 and 2013 or by 3.4% per year. Females and males were almost equally represented as newly registered donors (44.7%/55.3%) but males were better represented as whole blood donors (26.7%/73.3%). Only 57.5% of newly registered donors in 2005 to 2006 returned to donate blood in the period 2005-2013.

In parallel with a period of decreased demand for red blood cells, the number of whole blood donors and donations declined in Iceland between 2005 and 2013 but still with adequate supply. A smaller retention among females than males gives the opportunity to focus on increasing the share of women among regular blood donors. Strategic work toward effective recruitment and retention of newly registered donors is needed to ensure a sufficiently large group of blood donors in Iceland in the near future.