Blood Donor Deferral Patterns and Frequency at a Tertiary Care Hospital in Lahore

Abstract

Background: Blood transfusion is a life-saving procedure as it ensures the safety of the donor and the recipient which is of utmost significance. Therefore, it is imperative to conduct donor selection and screening of donor blood sample following strict eligibility criteria defined by WHO. Present study was conducted for investigating the trends and causes of blood donor deferral within the blood bank of a tertiary care hospital Lahore in light of this.

 Objectives: To determine the frequency and the common causes of donor deferral in blood bank of Shalamar hospital Lahore.

Study Design: Retrospective

Sampling Technique: Non probability consecutive sampling

Setting:  Blood bank, Department of Pathology, Shalamar Hospital Lahore.

Duration of study: Jan 2020 to December 2021

Methodology: This study was conducted at blood bank of Shalamar Hospital Lahore. The data of blood donors who were registered in the blood bank during the mentioned period period were reviewed .As per mandatory WHO guidelines eligible donors were screened  for  Hemoglobin  and Transfusion Transmitted Infection (HBsAg, HCV antibody , HIV 1/2 antibody, Syphilis and Malaria) . The screening data of donor was analyzed in order to determine the frequency and most common causes of deferral using SPSS version 19.

Results: Among 6616 blood donors who registered in blood bank during mentioned period, donor deferral rate was 4.2%. The mean age of deferred individuals was 31.39 ±8.0 years.  The most frequent cause of temporary  deferral was Low Hb (32.8 %) followed by Syphilis  detected in 20.6% of donors .Hepatitis C Virus infection ( 25.5%) was leading cause of deferral among permanently deferred donors followed by  Hepatitis B virus (18.8%) and HIV (2.3%). No positive case of malaria was detected in this study.

Conclusion: Deferral for blood donations accounts for 4.1%.Low Hb and HCV infection were the two most common causes of deferral observed in present study .The substantial rate of deferral due to anemia and HCV infection poses a significant public health concern, necessitating regulatory bodies to implement measures at national level aimed at enhancing community health and minimizing infection rates by public awareness and strict regulatory policy