Securing the blood supply - demographic aspects

Background

The population in Germany is aging and so is the donor population. Already, most whole blood donations are made by individuals older than 45 years with 9.3% of donations given by donors aged 65+ in 2021. Due to these demographic changes, recruiting and retaining blood donors becomes increasingly challenging. Detailed knowledge of the demographic profile and donation behavior of donor populations are therefore essential to secure an adequate blood supply.

Methods

Surveillance data from the national donor surveillance system and population data from the federal states statistical offices were used to assess changes in demography and donation frequencies of whole blood donors aged 18-68 between 2012 and 2021.

Results

From 2012 to 2021, the general population aged 18 to 68 increased by 2%. At the same time, the number of first time and repeat whole blood donors dropped by 13% and 36%, respectively. In 2021, 2.5% of the population aged 18-68 was active as repeat whole blood donors (2012: 4.3%). The highest proportion of donors was observed in 2021 among those aged 18 to 24 (4.5%). As the age structure of whole blood repeat donors roughly resembled that of the general population, the greatest number of donors were 55-64 years of age in 2021 (45-54 years in 2012). While in 2012 48% of all whole blood donations came from new and repeat donors younger than 45 years, this proportion dropped to 44% in 2021. As observed in previous years, the number of donations per year (2.0 on average) increased with age in both male and female donors: from 1.9 and 1.6 respectively among the youngest donors (18 to 24 years) to 2.6 and 2.1 for donors 65 years and older.

Conclusion

The substantial drop in whole blood donors and the demographic shift in the age structure of the current donor population is alarming. With only 1 in 40 potentially eligible individuals donating strong efforts must be made to increase the pool of regular and repeat donors to overcome seasonal fluctuation or other effects which might negatively influence the blood supply. A coordinated and collective approach including all stakeholders should be pursued. The National Advisory Committee (AK Blut) has initiated a working group focusing on donor recruitment as part of an integrative concept to ensure the future blood supply in 2022. Societal recognition of blood donations must be increased, barriers to donation lowered and use of blood must always be appropriate to secure the high standard of care for patients.

Offenlegung Interessenkonflikt:

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

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