Assessment of blood donor privacy during health history interviews

Abstract

Given the personal nature of health history interviews, it is important to provide donors with both visual and auditory privacy. Privacy is affected by variables such as background noise, the use of visual screens, and the loudness of the donor's voice. In Phase I of this study, an interview station and waiting area were simulated. To measure auditory privacy, a speech intelligibility test was given to subjects with and without the use of a free-standing privacy screen and masking noise device. Phase II was a field trial designed to evaluate screens and masking noise. Background noise was measured during each blood collection operation, and donors completed a survey. In Phase I, speech intelligibility test scores ranged from 78 to 5.1 percent, depending on the type of visual screen and the number of masking noise devices used. In Phase II, with the use of screens, 94 percent of donors rated visual privacy as "good to excellent," compared with 74 percent who did so when no screens were used. At many blood drives, the background noise level exceeded the level of the masking noise. The use of visual screens increases donors' perception of visual privacy. The use of masking noise is effective only when the health history interview is conducted under conditions of low background noise levels.