Donor deferral registries

In the last half of this century, donor deferral registries have grown in size, scope, and importance for blood collection organizations and regulatory agencies. This has occurred despite the lack of direct evidence that, when used with all other methods, they contribute meaningfully to the safety of the blood supply. Any decrease in the perceived benefit of deferral registries has been a result of the introduction of a panoply of serological testing of donor blood intended to detect transmissible disease. As the sensitivity of serological testing improves, the relative merit of the subjective methods used for blood supply safety diminish. Although computers have become a mainstay in the management of deferral registries, accurate and consistent donor identification, good manual systems, and quality control of data bases are key features to their successful management. As with the other subjective methods used in maintaining blood supply safety, techniques must be developed to determine the value of the many features of donor deferral registries. Efforts must be made to simplify these processes and focus on those elements that provide important contributions to blood supply safety. Today, donor deferral registries are major activities in most blood centers and are believed to play a significant role in blood supply safety. It is time for their role to be carefully reexamined.