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Current Opinion in Hematology Nov 2022This review examines recent research on the prevalence and importance of iron deficiency in blood donors, and on efforts to mitigate it. (Review)
Review
PURPOSE OF REVIEW
This review examines recent research on the prevalence and importance of iron deficiency in blood donors, and on efforts to mitigate it.
RECENT FINDINGS
Premenopausal females, teenagers, and high-frequency donors are at the highest risk for donation-induced iron deficiency, in both high-resource and low-resource settings. The physiology relating iron stores to hemoglobin levels and low hemoglobin deferral is well elucidated in blood donor populations, yet the clinical effects attributable to iron loss in the absence of anemia are challenging to identify. Expanded adoption of ferritin testing is improving donor management but may cause decreases in the blood supply from temporary donor loss. The potential for personalized donor management is emerging with development of computational models that predict individual interdonation intervals that aim to optimize blood collected from each donor while minimizing low hemoglobin deferrals.
SUMMARY
Measures to reduce iron deficiency are available that can be deployed on a standardized or, increasingly, personalized basis. Blood centers, regulators, and donors should continue to evaluate different tactics for addressing this problem, to obtain a balanced approach that is optimal for maintaining adequate collections while safeguarding donor health.
Topics: Blood Donors; Ferritins; Hemoglobins; Humans; Iron; Iron Deficiencies
PubMed: 35916553
DOI: 10.1097/MOH.0000000000000733 -
Revista Medica Del Instituto Mexicano... Jan 2023In 2022, 2 years on from the start of the pandemic, the Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social (IMSS, Mexican Institute for Social Security) has been reorganizing its...
In 2022, 2 years on from the start of the pandemic, the Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social (IMSS, Mexican Institute for Social Security) has been reorganizing its services at full, out of which blood banks play a key role. In addition, on June 14 it is celebrated the World Blood Donor Day by the World Health Organization and this year Mexico was the host country for the celebration. Therefore, it is important to highlight the work carried out in blood banks, ranging from their main activity, which is the recruitment of blood donors and the blood components production, to the different interventions they have in the field of transplantation, diseases emerging diagnosis and the development of new therapeutic modalities, such as, for example, cell therapy.
Topics: Humans; Academies and Institutes; Blood Banks; Blood Donors; Mexico; Social Security
PubMed: 36377981
DOI: No ID Found -
Vox Sanguinis Apr 2022This study aimed to describe motives as well as donation experiences and the intention to return for further donations of German whole blood donors who donated at the...
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES
This study aimed to describe motives as well as donation experiences and the intention to return for further donations of German whole blood donors who donated at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
To describe motives and donor experiences, a retrospective survey was conducted among whole blood donors that had a donation appointment at the German Red Cross Blood Donation Service in the first 4 weeks of the pandemic. A donor questionnaire including 17 retrospective questions was sent to 7500 donors. Donor motivation and donor experiences were compared for different donor groups using chi-square statistics. Finally, in an ordinal logistic regression model predictors for the intention to return were identified.
RESULTS
More than half of the participating donors (56.9%) wanted to contribute to the fight against the pandemic by donating blood. Most of the donors were satisfied with their last donation experience and felt safe during the blood donor appointment. However, some donors would have liked more information on how to deal with the pandemic (20.3%). Intention to return for further donations was strongly associated with overall satisfaction (OR: 1.67, CI: 1.47-1.90) and the feeling of being safe during blood donation (OR: 1.33, CI: 1.05-1.68).
CONCLUSION
Donor satisfaction with the last donation was high and the vast majority of donors felt very safe. However, those donors who felt unsafe expressed a low intention to return and blood donation services should therefore carefully monitor donor satisfaction.
Topics: Blood Donors; COVID-19; Germany; Humans; Intention; Motivation; Pandemics; Personal Satisfaction; Retrospective Studies; Safety; Surveys and Questionnaires
PubMed: 34725833
DOI: 10.1111/vox.13212 -
Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine 2016An update on the 2005 American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine (ACVIM) Consensus Statement on blood donor infectious disease screening was presented at the 2015... (Review)
Review
An update on the 2005 American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine (ACVIM) Consensus Statement on blood donor infectious disease screening was presented at the 2015 ACVIM Forum in Indianapolis, Indiana, followed by panel and audience discussion. The updated consensus statement is presented below. The consensus statement aims to provide guidance on appropriate blood-borne pathogen testing for canine and feline blood donors in North America.
Topics: Animals; Blood Donors; Blood Transfusion; Blood-Borne Pathogens; Cat Diseases; Cats; Communicable Diseases; Disease Transmission, Infectious; Dog Diseases; Dogs
PubMed: 26806261
DOI: 10.1111/jvim.13823 -
International Journal of Molecular... Apr 2021While differences among donors has long challenged meeting quality standards for the production of blood components for transfusion, only recently has the molecular... (Review)
Review
While differences among donors has long challenged meeting quality standards for the production of blood components for transfusion, only recently has the molecular basis for many of these differences become understood. This review article will examine our current understanding of the molecular differences that impact the quality of red blood cells (RBC), platelets, and plasma components. Factors affecting RBC quality include cytoskeletal elements and membrane proteins associated with the oxidative response as well as known enzyme polymorphisms and hemoglobin variants. Donor age and health status may also be important. Platelet quality is impacted by variables that are less well understood, but that include platelet storage sensitive metabolic parameters, responsiveness to agonists accumulating in storage containers and factors affecting the maintenance of pH. An increased understanding of these variables can be used to improve the quality of blood components for transfusion by using donor management algorithms based on a donors individual molecular and genetic profile.
Topics: Age Factors; Blood Donors; Blood Platelets; Blood Preservation; Erythrocytes; Humans
PubMed: 33920459
DOI: 10.3390/ijms22083943 -
International Journal of Environmental... Apr 2021It is crucial to provide updated knowledge about blood (non-)donors, as it is necessary to design targeted interventions with the aim of retaining blood donors and thus...
It is crucial to provide updated knowledge about blood (non-)donors, as it is necessary to design targeted interventions with the aim of retaining blood donors and thus contributing to a functioning health system. This study investigates the prevalence and socio-demographic patterning of lifetime blood donation, assessing blood donation intention within the next 12 months and exploring personal motives and deterrents of blood donation qualitatively in the German population. A face-to-face cross-sectional survey with 2531 respondents was conducted, representative of the German population in terms of age, gender, and residency. Closed as well as open questions were asked. Qualitative content analysis was used for coding the qualitative material. Basic descriptive statistics were conducted to address our research questions. More than one-third of the participants reported that they have donated blood at least once in their lifetime. Motives and deterrents were assigned to 10 domains with 50 main categories and 65 sub-categories. The most frequently stated motives for blood donation were "altruism", "social responsibility", and "charity", whereas the most frequently stated deterrents were "health status", "age", and "lack of time". This study provides information to tailor recruitment and reactivation strategies to address donors at different career steps-from non-donor to loyal donor.
Topics: Altruism; Blood Donors; Cross-Sectional Studies; Humans; Intention; Motivation; Surveys and Questionnaires
PubMed: 33923586
DOI: 10.3390/ijerph18084238 -
Donor orientation and service quality: Key factors in active blood donors' satisfaction and loyalty.PloS One 2021Faced with the increasing demand for blood and greater restrictions on ensuring the safety of transfusions, voluntary donation is currently the only and best alternative...
Faced with the increasing demand for blood and greater restrictions on ensuring the safety of transfusions, voluntary donation is currently the only and best alternative for the health system to have a sustainable and safe blood supply. In this context, one of the primary strategies of blood transfusion centres is to increase the satisfaction of their active donors so that they maintain their intention to donate in the future and, in turn, make the necessary recommendations so that third parties can become new donors. That is why this paper raises a question for research concerning, what should the premises be to guide the management of blood transfusion centres to maintain and even increase the satisfaction and loyalty of their active donors? In order to respond to this issue, a change in paradigm is proposed based on a management model supported by donor orientation and service quality as basic pillars, as well as on the development of a number of key social capital resources that explain this orientation toward the donor. In both approaches, the donor becomes the cornerstone of decision-making, moving away from the traditional model which is focused more on achieving targets related to the collection of blood bags. Through the empirical analysis of a sample of 126 employees from various transfusion centres and 26,833 active donors in nine Spanish autonomous communities, we have been able to validate this proposed management model as a useful tool to blood promotion agents in their decision-making processes.
Topics: Adolescent; Adult; Blood Donors; Blood Transfusion; Female; Humans; Male; Middle Aged; Models, Theoretical; Multilevel Analysis; Personal Satisfaction; Quality of Health Care; Reproducibility of Results; Young Adult
PubMed: 34293070
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0255112 -
Transfusion Medicine Reviews Apr 2016Optimal selection of blood donors is critical for ensuring the safety of blood products. The current selection process is concerned principally with the safety of the... (Meta-Analysis)
Meta-Analysis Review
Optimal selection of blood donors is critical for ensuring the safety of blood products. The current selection process is concerned principally with the safety of the blood donor at the time of donation and of the recipient at the time of transfusion. Recent evidence suggests that the characteristics of the donor may affect short- and long-term transfusion outcomes for the transfused recipient. We conducted a systematic review with the primary objective of assessing the association between blood donor characteristics and red blood cell (RBC) transfusion outcomes. We searched MEDLINE, EMBASE, and Cochrane Central databases and performed manual searches of top transfusion journals for all available prospective and retrospective studies. We described study characteristics, methodological quality, and risk of bias and provided study-level effect estimates and, when appropriate, pooled estimates with 95% confidence intervals using the Mantel-Haenszel or inverse variance approach. The overall quality of the evidence was graded using Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) methodology. From 6121 citations identified by our literature search, 59 studies met our eligibility criteria (50 observational, 9 interventional). We identified the evaluation of association of 17 donor characteristics on RBC transfusion outcome. The risk of bias and confounding of the included studies was high. The quality of evidence was graded as very low to low for all 17 donor characteristics. Potential associations were observed for donor sex with reduced survival at 90 days and 6 months in male recipients that receive donated blood from females (hazard ratio 2.60 [1.09, 6.20] and hazard ratio 2.40 [1.10, 5.24], respectively; n = 1), Human Leukocyte Antigen - antigen D Related (HLA-DR) selected transfusions (odds ratio [OR] 0.39 [0.15, 0.99] for the risk of transplant alloimmunization, n = 9), presence of antileukocyte antibodies (OR 5.84 [1.66, 20.59] for risk of transfusion-related acute lung injury, n = 4), and donor RBC antigens selection (OR 0.20 [0.08, 0.52] for risk of alloimmunization, n = 4). Based on poor quality evidence, positive antileukocyte antibodies, female donor to male recipients, HLA-DR selected RBC transfusion, or donor RBC antigen selection may affect RBC transfusion outcome. Our findings that donor characteristics may be associated with transfusion outcomes warrant establishing vein-to-vein data infrastructure to allow for large robust evaluations. PROSPERO registration number: CRD42013006726.
Topics: Age Factors; Bias; Blood Donors; Donor Selection; Erythrocyte Transfusion; Evidence-Based Medicine; Female; HLA Antigens; Hospital Mortality; Humans; Isoantibodies; Male; Observational Studies as Topic; Research Design; Sex Factors; Survival Analysis; Treatment Outcome; Viremia
PubMed: 26920039
DOI: 10.1016/j.tmrv.2016.01.002 -
Transfusion Sep 2021Understanding donor perception of the blood donation experience is central to maintaining an adequate blood supply. Studies that use questionnaires to assess...
BACKGROUND
Understanding donor perception of the blood donation experience is central to maintaining an adequate blood supply. Studies that use questionnaires to assess barriers/facilitators to donation may be influenced by response bias. To address this, we conducted an innovative study integrating quantitative informatic techniques with qualitative data analysis of YouTube video content to explore donor experiences and barriers and facilitators to whole blood donation.
METHODS
Sampling of YouTube videos was conducted using search parameters for identifying relevant videos, based on donors' language used to describe their whole blood donation experiences (e.g., blood donation, blood donor, donated blood, gave/give blood). We eliminated duplicate videos; filtered out non-English videos, those made outside the United States, and those with no transcripts; and restricted the time period during which videos were posted from 2015 to 2019. Search parameters were fed into a Python script, which downloaded video transcripts for all search results. The final sample was 102 noncommercial and 34 commercial transcripts. The subsequent transcriptions were uploaded into qualitative analysis software and coded two coders. A third coder randomly selected transcripts to review to ensure consistency.
RESULTS
Barriers to whole blood donation include having prior negative experiences with donation and donation-related fear. Facilitators included altruism, having a personal connection to donation, donation center incentives, and positive experiences with blood center staff.
CONCLUSION
Themes identified in this study were similar to those in the existing literature. This suggests that current questionnaires to address barriers/facilitators to donation are unlikely to be meaningfully impacted by response bias.
Topics: Altruism; Blood Donors; Fear; Humans; Motivation; Social Media; United States; Video Recording
PubMed: 34196004
DOI: 10.1111/trf.16568 -
Transfusion Feb 2023Genomic testing is already used by blood collection agencies (BCAs) to identify rare blood types and ensure the best possible matching of blood. With ongoing...
BACKGROUND
Genomic testing is already used by blood collection agencies (BCAs) to identify rare blood types and ensure the best possible matching of blood. With ongoing technological developments, broader applications, such as the identification of genetic markers relevant to blood donor health, will become feasible. However, the perspectives of blood donors (and potential blood donors) on routine genomic testing of donor blood are under-researched.
STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS
Eight online Focus Groups were conducted: four with donors and four with non-donors. Participants were presented with three hypothetical scenarios about the current and possible future applications of genomic testing: Performing rare blood type testing; identifying donors with genetic markers associated with iron metabolism; and identifying donors with genetic markers associated with bowel cancer.
RESULTS
Testing to identify rare blood types was perceived to be an appropriate application for the BCA to undertake, while identifying markers associated with iron metabolism and cancer genetic markers were only partially supported. Participants raised concerns about the boundaries of acceptable testing and the implications of testing for privacy, data security, and health insurance. Perspectives of donors and non-donors on all scenarios were similar.
DISCUSSION
The principles of who benefits from genomic testing and the perceived role of BCAs were key in shaping participants' perspectives. Participants generally agreed that testing should be directly related to blood donation or be of benefit to the recipient or donor. Findings indicate that consent and communication are key to the acceptability of current and expanded genomic testing.
Topics: Humans; Blood Donors; Genetic Markers; Focus Groups; Genetic Testing; Iron
PubMed: 36478364
DOI: 10.1111/trf.17215