Influences on blood donor return rate and donation interval

Background

Maintaining a motivated pool of eligible blood donors is the most important basis to provide the health care system with the required blood supply. Society and individual commitment has changed in the last years. The pandemic has accelerated these factors; in contrast it had a different but temporary impact on blood donation behavior.

The recruitment of new donors is an extensive task; therefore it is significant to have donors with a constant donation frequency.

Methods

Insights into motives that modulate donation frequencies can help influencing them without much effort. From 2017 to 2022, 125,917 individual persons accounted for 334,175 whole blood donations (including adverse reactions) and 47,241 deferrals in our institute. For these donations, we analyzed the last and next contact with the particular person and if these had a certain abnormality. This donation interval was tested for correlation with demographic characteristics as age, local factors (urban vs. rural) and reasons for deferral.

The presented data does not include donations from platelet and plasma apheresis, since these donation appointments are actively managed.

Results

38.5 % of donors are one-time contacts that did not donate a second time. 50 % of returning donors do this within 246 days after a successful donation. After deferral, this increases to 356 days and 263 if they had a negative experience (e.g. fainting). Covid pandemic temporarily decreased the interval (presumably, because blood donation was exempted from restrictions). Donors return sooner if deferral was due to travelling or low hemoglobin compared to other reasons (medical condition or treatment, risk behavior). In 2017, there was a clear difference of age groups with a significant shorter interval for older persons (56+); this difference has converged in 2022. Overall, the interval has dropped and fewer donors need to donate more often.

Conclusion

The changes in our donor pool demand new strategies to keep donors motivated. Considering that, 42.2 % of donors younger than 29 requires new and valuable incentives for their second donation.

There need to be more focus on donors that had negative experiences during their donation. Deferred donors tend to have longer comeback rates and 46.5 % do not come back at all. Distinguished contact approaches could help to mitigate disappointment and reactivate potential.

Offenlegung Interessenkonflikt:

The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest.