Blood Donor Deferral Pattern in Rural Teaching Hospital: An Institutional Study

Introduction: The scarcity of blood donors has always been a major concern for blood banks. Blood Transfusion Services is an important and fundamental part of National Health Services. This study was conducted to identify the donors who are deferred temporarily and what are the reasons to be corrected, to inform them and recruit them later as voluntary, regular non remunerative blood donors. Objectives: To analyse the incidence of deferral and its pattern among the blood donors in a teaching hospital of rural India. Materials and Methods: This study includes all the voluntary donors and replacement donors. After measuring the weight of donor 350 ml or 450 ml of blood was collected. Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) based on the National guidelines were used for donor deferral and selection. A Medical Officer asked their medical history then examined briefly the temperature, blood pressure, Haemoglobin, heart rate and its regularity. Results: Anemia was the major reason responsible for the deferral among females. Hypertension being the commonest reason for permanent deferral among both genders followed by cardiac disorders. Conclusion: Blood banking is the backbone of modern medicine but it carries the potential risk of infectious disease transmission. Well planned donor education programmes are needed to protect the loyalty of voluntary blood donors and to dispel any superstitions and myths about blood donation.