Pre-Donation Deferral of Whole Blood Donors in District Transfusion Centre

Background: Blood transfusion saves lives and improves health, but millions of patients who need transfusion do not have timely access to safe blood. Pre-donation donor selection is done for the safety of the blood donor and recipient. Aims: Primary objective of this study was to record and document the current rate and reasons for donor deferral in our District Transfusion Centre. Methods and Material: Study was conducted on whole blood donors (voluntary/replacement), arrived for donating blood at our blood bank, during 1st January 2009 to 31st December 2010. The donor selection was done by pre-donation screening tests like questionnaire followed by physical examination and haemoglobin estimation. The deferred donor’s data was analysed. Results: Out of 9113 blood donors who came to donate blood, 94.81% were eligible for donation and 5.19% blood donors were deferred. The deferral rate among male population (401/8870 cases, 4.52%) and female population (72/243 cases, 29.63%) were observed. Most common cause of deferral in our study was hypertension (189, 39.95%), followed by anaemia (92, 19.45%), low body weight (43, 9.09%). Conclusions: Hence studying the profile of blood donors will help to identify sections of the population which could be targeted, to increase the pool of voluntary blood donors and also to guide and provide the necessary essential database for the policy design and programme implementation.