Stop frightening and start donating: An experience from a resource constraint country

Abstract

Background and Objectives: One of the observed fears that keep people hesitant to donate blood is anemia. We conducted this study to investigate the hemoglobin (Hb) level post donation in first-time donors and compared it with healthy nondonor group. Methods: An analytical cross-sectional study was conducted from February 2018 to December 2018 after approval from the institutional ethics committee. There were two study groups: Group 1 which included donors who donated blood as per the National Blood Donor Policy. Group 2 comprised gender matched healthy participants. Laboratory investigations included complete blood counts. Informed consent was taken from participants of both the groups. Anemia was defined as Hb of <14 g/dl in males and <12 g/dl in females. SPSS version 23.0 was used for inferential statistics. Results: A total of 928 donations were included, with 9 (1%) females and 919 (99%) males. Out of 919 male donors, 601 (65%) were donating blood for the first time. Out of 601 first-time donors, 175 (29%) participants were recruited for analysis. An equal number of gender-matched healthy nondonor participants were included in the analysis. The age range was 18–55 years in both the groups. Independent t-test was applied, and the mean difference in Hb level in both the groups was found statistically nonsignificant (P = 0.713). Conclusion: Our study revealed a similar mean Hb level in both the groups. Some other factors we encountered were scarcity of voluntary and female participation in blood donation.

Keywords

• donors' motivation
• donors' psychology
• donors