Journal of Blood Medicine (Jan 2019)
Analysis of the most common causes of blood donor deferral in northern Jeddah: a single-center study
Abstract
Afnan K AlNouri,1 Lamees A Maghrabi,1 Samah S Hamdi,1 Shereen M Abd El-Ghany,2,3 Khalid A AlNouri4 1College of Medicine, Ibn Sina National College for Medical Studies, Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia; 2Department of Pediatrics, Ibn Sina National College for Medical Studies, Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia; 3Department of Pediatrics, Hematology and Oncology Unit, Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt; 4Department of Intensive Care, King Abdulaziz University Hospital, Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Purpose: We aimed to conduct a retrospective study in order to statistically analyze the commonest causes for blood donor rejection in northern Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia according to the American Association of Blood Banks. This will help in developing better strategies to minimize the loss of treasured blood donors.Subjects and methods: A sample of 500 rejected donors was randomly selected from a single blood bank between October 2016 to May 2017. The evaluation of blood donors was according to the personal history questionnaire and a medical examination done before the blood donation proceeded.Results: The causes of deferral were categorized into three main categories: personal factors, medical examination and medical history. The most common personal cause of deferral was lack of sleep (29 [5.80%]); however, the most common medical examination cause of deferral was low blood pressure (68 [13.60%]). Concerning the medical history, the commonest cause was cupping (58 [11.6%]).Conclusion: Low blood pressure (13.6%), cupping (11.6%) and less hours of sleep in the night prior to donation (5.8%) were the major causes of rejection in this study. Similarities and variations between the commonest causes of blood donor rejection may be due to the differences and similarities in the geographic area and in the cultural, educational and socioeconomic factors. Keywords: cupping, donor questionnaire, blood transfusion, safe blood
