Can inactive blood donors be re-recruited? A stratified randomised pilot study

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Blood Transfusion Services
• Donor Recruitment Strategies

Background:

• Blood donor retention is crucial for maintaining a safe and sufficient blood supply.
• Inactive donors represent a potential resource for increasing blood donations.
• Effective strategies are needed to re-engage lapsed blood donors.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the effectiveness of telephone calls and short message service (SMS) for recruiting inactive blood donors.
• To identify the primary reasons for blood donor self-deferral.
• To determine the required sample size for future blood donation studies.

Main Methods:

• A single-centre, open-label, parallel randomized controlled trial was conducted in Guangzhou, China.
• 1188 inactive donors were randomized into telephone call, SMS, or control groups.
• Donors were followed for 7 months to analyze re-donation activities.

Main Results:

• A statistically significant difference in re-donation rates was observed across the groups (P = 0.044).
• The telephone call group showed a significantly higher re-donation rate compared to the control group (P = 0.017).
• Higher re-donation rates in the phone call group correlated with donation frequency and donor age. Common self-deferral reasons included medical issues, time constraints, and group donations.

Conclusions:

• Active interventions, particularly phone call reminders, can enhance blood donation rates.
• Further research with larger sample sizes is needed to compare the efficacy of phone call versus SMS reminders.