TO ANALYSE THE DEFERRAL INCIDENCE AND ITS PATTERN AMONG THE BLOOD DONORS IN A TERTIARY CARE CENTRE IN NORTH INDIA.

Background: Blood donor programme is vital to any transfusion service. This process of blood donation involves voluntary and non remunerated blood donors. The objective of donor screening is to minimize the chances of transmitting infectious agents to recipients. Material and Method: The study was conducted during one year duration from 2017-2018. A total of 700 donors are deferred against 9556 blood donors recruited on the basis of clinical history and brief medical examination in blood bank and voluntary blood donation camps. Donors were deferred temporarily or permanently. Result: Out of 700 deferred donors; 546 were voluntary and 154 were replacement blood donors. Male (601) outnumbered female (99). There were 682 temporary and 18 permanent deferral. Most common age group for deferral was 17-30 yrs (490). Common causes included anemia(142), on medication(108), underweight(83) and high blood pressure(72). Conclusion: Donor selection process is a most important preliminary step in blood banking and should follow stringent medical and regulatory rules. Studying and analysing the profile of blood donors will help to identify sections of the population which could be targeted to increase the pool of voluntary blood donors. Every attempt should be made to decrease the donor deferral keeping in view the safety of both donor and recipients. Keywords: Blood donor, Deferral, Voluntary, Temporary, Permanent.