Redonation Attempts Among Potential Donors With Pre-donation Deferrals in a Military Blood Donation Center

All prospective blood donors who report behaviors or conditions that may increase risk of transfusion-transmitted infection (TTI) are temporarily deferred from donating. In this study, we evaluate how deferrals for TTI risk impact future donation attempts, ultimately informing how deferral policy changes may affect the military population.

This retrospective chart review evaluated all blood donors with pre-donation deferrals at a single site between October 2019 and December 2022. Among the 14 deferral categories, 7 were classified as behaviors or conditions that increase risk of TTI. The rate of donation reattempts within the study period was assessed in donors deferred for TTI risk and compared to that of donors deferred for low hemoglobin matched by sex, age, and military training status.

Six thousand three hundred and fifty two (12.8%) of the 49,613 blood donors identified during the study had a pre-donation deferral. The most common reason for pre-donation deferral was anemia (54.2%), but TTI-risk accounted for a significant fraction of deferrals (10.7%). We found that donors who were deferred for TTI risk were significantly less likely to attempt redonation during the study period compared to those deferred for anemia (P < .001). On multivariate analysis, donors deferred for men who have sex with men and travel or residence in a malaria-endemic area were independently associated with a decreased redonation attempt rate and increased time to reattempt.

Pre-donation deferrals for TTI risk were associated with a decreased rate of redonation and increased time to reattempt compared to donors deferred for anemia.