Individual, contextual and network characteristics of blood donors and non-donors: a systematic review of recent literature

Blood donation practice and its associated factors among Polish population: secondary data analysis

Introduction

Blood transfusion is an intervention widely used in therapeutics (e.g., in the perioperative period), thus, knowledge about factors associated with blood donation is important. The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of sociodemographic factors, personal values and life satisfaction on blood donation in Poland.

Methods

Secondary analysis of data. A multiple logistic regression was carried out to assess the relationship between sociodemographic factors, life satisfaction (Satisfaction with Life Scale), personal values (Personal Values List) and blood donation.

Results

Of the 770 respondents aged 18-65 years, 262 respondents (34%) donated blood at least once in their lives. Respondents who believed that blood donation is safe (OR = 1.71; Cl95%: 1.20 to 2.43), were male (OR = 1.47; Cl95%: 1.26 to 1.72), married (OR = 1.31; Cl95%: 1.11 to 1.54) and those with high school education (OR = 0.81; Cl95%: 0.66 to 0.99) were more often blood donors.

Conclusion

Perceived blood donation safety and sociodemographic factors such as gender, marital status, and education level may influence blood donation. Health education is necessary to increase knowledge and shape positive attitudes toward blood donation among the society.

Blood donation motivators and barriers reported by young, first-time whole blood donors: Examining the association of reported motivators and barriers with subsequent donation behavior and potential sex, race, and ethnic group differences

BACKGROUND

A greater understanding of young, first-time donor motivators and barriers is needed to address the ongoing challenge of retaining these essential donors.

STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS

Structured interviews conducted with 508 young, first-time whole blood donors [66.1% female; Mean Age = 19.4 (SD = 2.5) years] were coded to identify reported motivators and barriers. Reported motivators and barriers were then examined for their association with attempted donation behavior over a 14-month follow-up, and for potential sex, race, and ethnic group differences in the frequency of endorsement.

RESULTS

Prosocial motivation (e.g., altruism) was the most commonly reported motivator and fear (e.g., fainting, needles) was the most commonly reported barrier. Donation behavior was unrelated to reported motivators, but was significantly related to four reported barriers including fear of fainting/dizziness, fear of needles/pain, having personal commitments that conflict with donating, and perceiving oneself as unsuited to donate for health reasons. Sex, racial, and ethnic differences were noted with respect to the percentages of donors reporting several donation-related motivators and barriers.

CONCLUSION

The present findings identify donation-related barriers that could be important targets to address in the effort to encourage new young donors and to retain these new donors for the long term. Importantly, these data also highlight the importance of considering individual differences in donor motivation as a function of sex, race, and ethnicity.

The influence of sociodemographic and donation behaviour characteristics on blood donation motivations

BACKGROUND

The study of donation motivations is essential at blood transfusion centres, because of the impact of these motivations on an individual's decision to donate. The heterogeneity of donor behaviour and the overall lack of consensus on how to assess it (e.g. via terminology, grouping of items in categories) justify this research, which was conducted with the purpose of an integrated analysis of the influence of sociodemographic and donation behaviour characteristics on the prevalence of donation motivations.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Twenty-five types of motivation were assessed, through an online self-administered questionnaire, in a sample of 5,353 active donors in the Canary Islands (Spain). A series of tests focused on the differences in means was performed in order to analyse how the donor profile affects donation motivations. As a preliminary step, the validity and reliability of the proposed motivation scale, holistic and integrative in nature, were demonstrated.

RESULTS

Variations in donation motivations do exist. Blood transfusion centres should target their efforts on donors who are over 35 years old, highly educated, with a high income and longer careers as donors, given that these are the least motivated subjects n the donor pool.

DISCUSSION

The fact that the prevalence of donation motivations varies according to the donor profile demonstrates the need to identify the most relevant motivations and, furthermore, which population groups are affected by these motivations. Blood transfusion centres should design differentiated marketing actions in order to achieve greater effectiveness and efficiency when using their budgets.

Effective methods for reactivating inactive blood donors: a stratified randomised controlled study

BACKGROUND

Recruiting of sufficient numbers of donors of blood products is vital worldwide. In this study we assessed the efficacy and cost-effectiveness of telephone calls and SMS reminders for re-recruitment of inactive blood donors.

METHODS

This single-centre, non-blinded, parallel randomised controlled trial in Guangzhou, China included 11,880 inactive blood donors whose last donation was between January 1 and June 30, 2014. The donors were randomly assigned to one of two intervention groups (telephone call or short message service [SMS] communications) or to a control group without intervention. SMS messages with altruistic appeal were adopted in the SMS group; in addition to altruistic appeal, reasons for deferral of blood donation were also asked in the telephone group. All participants were followed up for 1 year. The primary outcome was re-donation rate, and rates in different groups were compared by intention-to-treat (ITT) analysis and estimation of the average treatment effect on the treated (ATT). Secondary outcomes were the self-reported deterrents. Other outcomes included the re-donation interval, and the incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) of telephone calls and SMS reminders on re-recruitment.

RESULTS

ITT analysis revealed no significant differences in the re-donation rate among the three groups. ATT estimations indicated that among compliers, telephone calls significantly increased re-donation compared to both SMS reminders and no intervention. Donor return behaviour was positively associated with receiving reminders successfully, being male, older age, and previous donation history. The SMS reminder prompted donors to return sooner than no reminder within 6 months, and according to ICER calculations, SMS reminders were more cost-effective than telephone calls. Donors reported time constraints as the most main causes of self-deferral in the telephone group, and altruistic appeal had a positive effect on these donors.

CONCLUSIONS

Interventions to reactivate inactive blood donors can be effective, with telephone calls prompting more donors to return but at a greater cost than SMS messages. SMS reminder with altruistic appeal can urge donors to re-donate sooner within 6 months than no reminder.

TRIAL REGISTRATION

NCT03366441 (Reactivation of Inactive Blood Donors). Retrospectively registered 4 December 2017.

Knowing the Blood Nondonor to Activate Behaviour

This work is aimed at further developing the study of blood nondonor behaviour through a joint analysis of sociodemographic characteristics, psychological and physical barriers, impure altruism and anticipated emotions, as predictors of intention to donate. To that end, a step-by-step hierarchical regression analysis was applied on a sample of 2383 Spanish nondonors. The study’s results confirm the influence of traditional variables (sociodemographic characteristics, psychological and physical barriers and impure altruism), as well as the power of anticipated emotions, both positive and negative, of donation action and inaction as variables explaining the intention to donate. Another important contribution has been to develop the moderating role of psychological and physical barriers, in addition to impure altruism, on cause–effect relationships between anticipated emotions and intention to donate. A number of practical implications can be derived from this study for transfusion centres responsible for donation promotion.

Life events and donor lapse among blood donors in Denmark

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES

The likelihood of donating blood changes over the life course, with life events shown to influence entry to and exit from the donor population. While these previous findings provide valuable insights for donor management, blood collection agencies need to be cautious about generalizing findings to other countries as blood donor behaviour is context-specific. To examine cross-country variations in donor behaviour, the repeatability of a previous Dutch study on life events and blood donor lapse is examined by using a sample of Danish donors.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Register data from Statistics Denmark was linked to the Scandinavian Donations and Transfusions database (n = 152 887). Logistic regressions were conducted to examine the association between life events in 2009-2012 and blood donor lapse in 2013-2014.

RESULTS

Of the total sample, 69 079 (45·2%) donors lapsed. Childbirth and losing a job increased the lapsing risk by 11% and 16%, respectively, while health-related events in the family (i.e. blood transfusion, disease and death) decreased the lapsing risk by 5%, 7% and 9%, respectively.

CONCLUSION

Life events are associated with donor lapse of Danish donors. These results are comparable to previous findings from the Netherlands (i.e. childbirth and labour market transitions increased lapsing risk; health-related events decreased lapsing risk), with two thirds of the associations being in the same direction. Differences between study results were mainly related to effect sizes and demographic compositions of the donor pools. We argue contextual factors to be of importance in blood donor studies.

FinDonor 10 000 study: a cohort to identify iron depletion and factors affecting it in Finnish blood donors

Background and Objectives

There is increasing evidence that frequent blood donation depletes the iron stores of some blood donors. The FinDonor 10 000 study was set up to study iron status and factors affecting iron stores in Finnish blood donors. In Finland, iron supplementation for at‐risk groups has been in place since the 1980s.

Material and Methods

A total of 2584 blood donors (N = 8003 samples) were recruited into the study alongside standard donation at three donation sites in the capital region of Finland between 5/2015 and 12/2017. All participants were asked to fill out a questionnaire about their health and lifestyle. Blood samples were collected from the sample pouch of whole blood collection set, kept in cool temperature and processed centrally. Whole blood count, CRP, ferritin and sTFR were measured from the samples, and DNA was isolated for GWAS studies.

Results

Participant demographics, albeit in general similar to the general blood donor population in Finland, indicated some bias towards older and more frequent donors. Participation in the study increased median donation frequency of the donors. Analysis of the effect of time lag from the sampling to the analysis and the time of day when sample was drawn revealed small but significant time‐dependent changes.

Conclusion

The FinDonor cohort now provides us with tools to identify potential donor groups at increased risk of iron deficiency and factors explaining this risk. The increase in donation frequency during the study suggests that scientific projects can be used to increase the commitment of blood donors.

Beyond Description: The Predictive Role of Affect, Memory, and Context in the Decision to Donate or Not Donate Blood

Background

Research on the recruitment and retention of blood donors has typically drawn on a homogeneous set of descriptive theories, viewing the decision to become and remain a donor as the outcome of affectively cold, planned, and rational decision-making by the individual. While this approach provides insight into how our donors think about blood donation, it is limited and has not translated into a suite of effective interventions. In this review, we set out to explore how a broader consideration of the influences on donor decision-making, in terms of affect, memory, and the context in which donation takes place, may yield benefit in the way we approach donor recruitment and retention.

Summary

Drawing on emerging research, we argue for the importance of considering the implications of both the positive and the negative emotions that donors experience and we argue for the importance of directly targeting affect in interventions to recruit nondonors. Next, we focus on the reconstructed nature of memory and the factors that influence what we remember about an event. We discuss how these processes may impact the retention of donors and the potential to intervene to enhance donors' recollections of their experiences. Finally, we discuss how our focus on the individual has led us to neglect the influence of the context in which donation takes place on donor behavior. We argue that the amassing of comprehensive large data sets detailing both the characteristics of the individuals and the context of their giving will ultimately allow for the more effective deployment of resources to improve recruitment and retention.

Key Messages

In suggesting these directions for future research, our want is to move beyond the ways in which we have traditionally described blood donation behavior with the aim of improving our theorizing about donors while improving the translational value of our research.

Blood donation barriers and facilitators of Sub-Saharan African migrants and minorities in Western high-income countries: a systematic review of the literature

OBJECTIVES

The present study aimed to gain more insight into, and summarise, blood donation determinants among migrants or minorities of Sub-Saharan heritage by systematically reviewing the current literature.

BACKGROUND

Sub-Saharan Africans are under-represented in the blood donor population in Western high-income countries. This causes a lack of specific blood types for transfusions and prevention of alloimmunisation among Sub-Saharan African patients.

METHODS/MATERIALS

Medline, EMBASE, PsycINFO and BIOSIS were searched for relevant empirical studies that focused on barriers and facilitators of blood donation among Sub-Saharan Africans in Western countries until 22 June 2017. Of the 679 articles screened by title and abstract, 152 were subsequently screened by full text. Paired reviewers independently assessed the studies based on predefined eligibility and quality criteria.

RESULTS

Of the 31 included studies, 24 used quantitative and 7 used qualitative research methods. Target cohorts varied from Black African Americans and refugees from Sub-Sahara Africa to specific Sub-Saharan migrant groups such as Comorians or Ethiopians. Main recurring barriers for Sub-Saharan Africans were haemoglobin deferral, fear of needles and pain, social exclusion, lack of awareness, negative attitudes and accessibility problems. Important recurring facilitators for Sub-Saharan Africans were altruism, free health checks and specific recruitment and awareness-raising campaigns.

CONCLUSION

The findings of this review can be used as a starting point to develop recruitment and retention strategies for Sub-Saharan African persons. Further research is needed to gain more insight in the role of these determinants in specific contexts as socioeconomic features, personal histories and host country regulations may differ per country.

(Non-)donor demographics, donation willingness, and the donor career

Donation willingness is generally high but registering with donor centers lags behind. We need to understand why and when during the life course which groups of individuals are motivated to donate. With this knowledge, we can design targeted recruitment and retention strategies and improve evidence-based donor management.

Determinants of blood donation willingness in the European Union: a cross-country perspective on perceived transfusion safety, concerns, and incentives

BACKGROUND

Willingness to donate blood depends on personal characteristics, beliefs, and motivations, but also on the cultural context. The aim of this study was to examine whether willingness to donate blood is associated with attitudes toward blood transfusion, personal motivators, and incentives and whether these factors vary across countries in the European Union (EU).

STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS

The sample consisted of 27,868 participants, from 28 EU member states, who were interviewed about blood donation and transfusion-related issues for the 2014 round of the Eurobarometer, a country-comparative survey, collected on behalf of the European Commission. Participants were asked whether they would be willing to donate blood and for which reasons (motivators) and which incentives are appropriate to receive in return for a blood donation.

RESULTS

Willingness to donate varied significantly across countries and was positively associated with perceived blood transfusion safety. Furthermore, helping family or people in need were the most powerful motivators for blood donation willingness in almost all countries. In contrast, the number of participants who were willing to donate to alleviate shortages or to contribute to research varied widely across countries. The wish to receive certain incentives, however, did not seem to be related to willingness to donate.

CONCLUSION

Perceived blood transfusion safety and personal motivations may be stronger determinants of willingness to donate than receiving certain incentives. EU-wide strategies and guidelines for donor recruitment and retention should take both overall and country-specific patterns into account. For example, education on the importance of donation could be considered.