Implication of deferral pattern on the donor pool: Study at a Tertiary Care Hospital

Abstract

Background and Objectives: Donor screening process is one of the most important steps in protecting the safety of blood supply. Donors who do not meet specified criteria are deferred either temporarily or permanently. These criteria are designed to protect both donors and patient safety. Due to the varied rates and reasons for deferrals in the existing literature, we aimed to evaluate the patterns and prevalence of deferrals in our institution. Materials and Methods: This retrospective study was conducted at a Tertiary Care Hospital, Karnataka, Southern India, to evaluate the various reasons for blood donor deferral from January 2011 to January 2014. Demographic data of blood donors was obtained through the blood bank database and secondary measures such as the type of deferral (permanent/temporary, pathogenic/nonpathogenic, and harmful to donor/recipient) were assessed. Results: A total of 54,653 subjects presented to our blood bank during this period out of which 2935 (5.6%) were deferred. The deferral to donor percentage was higher in females (36.54%) than males (3.64%). Low hemoglobin was the major deferral criterion seen in our participants (48.1%) followed by hypertension (16.4%), underweight (8.9%). Low pulse rate and fasting donor were the least prevalent reasons. A total of 36.8% of reasons for deferral were harmful to donors, 88.2% were nonpathogenic, and 98.1% were temporary causes. Conclusion: Variations in donor deferral may be attributed to different donor selection criteria in different regions and centers. Hence, it is important to know the common causes of donor deferral in a region so that measures may be taken to improve the donor pool.