ANALYSIS OF PRE-DONATION DEFERRAL REASONS AMONGST BLOOD DONORS IN VADODARA, GUJARAT.

Background: Blood transfusion saves lives and improves health, but many patients requiring transfusion do not have timely access to safe blood. Providing safe and adequate blood should be an integral part of every country’s national health care policy and infrastructure. Aim: The main aim of the study was to analyze the reasons for pre-donation deferral amongst blood donors attending our blood bank and outdoor camp organized by our blood bank and to evaluate and categorize the reasons into temporary and permanent deferral. Materials and methods: It is a Record based Retrospective Study conducted in Department of Immunohematology and blood transfusion over a period of two years from July 2015 to July 2017. The reasons of deferral were analyzed after classification into following categories, namely, temporary- permanent deferral, in-house –camp blood donors, gender-based (male -female), and various age group categories. Results: A total of 30,022 prospective blood donors registered for blood donation out of which 2241 blood donors were deferred (7.46%) with low hemoglobin level, medication and hypertension as top three causes. The majority of deferral was seen in 18-25 years of age group which mainly comprises the youth population. The female donors were rejected eight times the male donors. Conclusion: The knowledge of the deferral incidences and their causes in a particular region helps in deciding the magnitude and the direction of the blood donor recruitment efforts. This knowl­edge also helps in calculating the eligible and the potential blood donor pool. Keywords: Blood Donors, Pre-Donation, Deferral, Temporary, Permanent.