From Screening to Safety: Addressing Donor Deferral Practices for a Safer Blood Supply

Area of Science:

• Transfusion Medicine
• Public Health
• Hematology

Background:

• Ensuring blood safety requires rigorous donor screening beyond standard testing like ELISA, which has limitations during the infection "window period".
• Understanding regional donor deferral patterns is crucial for effective blood supply management and donor retention strategies.

Purpose of the Study:

• To determine the most frequent reasons for blood donor deferral in a specific region.
• To identify potential measures for enhancing blood safety and increasing the recall rate of deferred donors.

Main Methods:

• Analysis of one year of donor deferral records from 8650 donors.
• Classification of deferred donors into five categories based on preliminary information, medical history, surgical history, physical examination, and risk of transfusion-transmitted infections (TTIs).

Main Results:

• An overall donor deferral rate of 17.9% was observed.
• Physical examination accounted for the highest deferral rate (49.93%).
• The primary causes for deferral were low hemoglobin (26.45%), high blood pressure (12.13%), alcohol consumption (7.03%), and active infections (5.29%).

Conclusions:

• Identifying common donor deferral patterns is essential for refining donor selection policies and improving regional blood safety.
• Categorizing deferral reasons allows for targeted interventions to enhance donor retention and maintain a motivated donor pool.