Analysis of blood donor deferral causes in solapur district

Background: Potential blood donors may be unable to donate blood for several reasons. To ensure the safety of blood supplied by the blood bank to patients, it is paramount that all blood donors are in good health. A shortage of safe blood donors is frequent and it is important to understand and analyze the causes of deferral of potential donors. Objectives: To evaluate the rate and major reasons of blood donor deferrals. Methodology: Data presented for donation in a blood centre and outdoor camps from Sept. 2012 to Aug. 2013 among different age groups of both the sex were collected. The deferrals will be based on an interview, detailed physical examination and hemoglobin estimation, and the same were noted in a standard blood bank questionnaire and consent form. Donor eligibility criteria were followed according to the National guidelines for blood donation. Donors who were deferred were analyzed according to their age, sex, occupation, and reason for deferral. Results : 205 blood donors were deferred out of 5185 presenting for donation during the study period. Incidence of deferral was 3.95 %. Most common reasons for deferral were low Hb (64.9%), Medication (8.8%), donated within 3 months (4.9 %), hypertension (4.4%) and others (3.4%). Majority of them (92.2%) were being deferred for temporary reasons. Permanent deferral accounted for 7.8 % with hypertension being the most common cause (56.2 %) in this category. Most of these deferred donors (65.8 %) were of age 18-30 years. Deferral was more among male (54.6%) than in female (45.4%). Conclusions: A deferral study in blood donors may shed light on the health status of the general population which may affect the blood supply. Most of temporary deferral donors will return for donation in future. Knowing temporary causes of deferral and proper inspiration is need for optimizing donor re-recruitment and retention.