Voluntary donation is a key issue in transfusion medicine. To ensure the safety of blood transfusions, careful donor selection is\r\nimportant. Although new approaches to blood safety have dramatically reduced the risks for infectious contamination of blood\r\ncomponents, the quality and the availability of blood components depend on the willingness to donate and the reliability of the\r\ninformation given by the donors about their own health, including risk behavior. As donors who are deferred by the blood bank\r\nwill be less motivated to return for donation, it is important to reduce the number of deferrals. The aims of the present study were\r\nto investigate the reasons for deferral of registered donors coming to the blood bank for donation, in order to identify areas of\r\nimportance for donor educationââ?¬â?as these deferrals potentially could be avoided by better donor comprehension. Deferral related\r\nto testing of donors is not included in this study as these deferrals are dependent on laboratory results and cannot be indentified by\r\nquestionnaire or interview. Data were collected from all blood donors in a period for 18 months who came for blood donation at\r\na large university hospital in Norway. 1 163 of the 29 787 regular donors, who showed up for donation, were deferred (3.9%). The\r\nmain reasons were intercurrent illness (n = 182) (15.6%), skin ulcers (n = 170) (14.6%), and risk behaviour (n = 127) (10.9%).\r\nIn a community, intercurrent illnesses, skin ulcers, and potential risk behavior are the most frequent reasons for deferral of regular\r\ndonors. Strategized effort on donor education is needed, as ââ?¬Å?failure to donateââ?¬Â reduces donor motivation
Loading....