Kotzé SR, Pedersen OB, Petersen MS, Sørensen E, Thørner LW, Sørensen CJ, Rigas AS, Hjalgrim H, Rostgaard K, Ullum H, Erikstrup C. Predictors of hemoglobin in Danish blood donors: results from the Danish Blood Donor Study.
Transfusion 2015;
55:1303-11. [PMID:
25647099 DOI:
10.1111/trf.13011]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/17/2014] [Revised: 11/25/2014] [Accepted: 11/25/2014] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND
It is well known that blood donors are at increased risk of iron deficiency and subsequent development of iron deficiency anemia. We aimed to investigate the effect of factors influencing hemoglobin (Hb) levels.
STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS
Initiated in 2010, the Danish Blood Donor Study is a population-based study and biobank. We performed multivariable linear regression analysis to assess the effects of donation activity, physiologic and lifestyle factors, and diet on Hb levels among 15,197 donors. We also performed multivariable logistic regression to evaluate the effects of these factors on the risk of having low Hb (defined as Hb below the 10th percentile among men and women, respectively) and of a decrease in Hb greater than 0.5 mmol/L (0.8 g/dL) between successive donations. All analyses were performed stratified for sex and smoking status. We also tested a previously used model for the prediction of Hb.
RESULTS
The strongest predictors of Hb and risk of low Hb were low ferritin (<15 ng/mL) and current use of iron supplementation (yes/no). No dietary factors were found to be consistently significant in multivariable models predicting Hb levels, risk of having low Hb, or risk of a decrease in Hb greater than 0.5 mmol/L. We found similar effects to previous studies of factors in the predictive model, with little additional effect of including smoking status and ferritin.
CONCLUSIONS
As ferritin was the strongest predictor of Hb, this study supports the implementation of regular ferritin measurement as a method of risk assessment among blood donors.
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