Blood Donation: Survey Results

A survey of 1735 blood centers (131) and hospitals (1604) in the US showed that blood collection rate per thousand US population of donor age between 18 and 65 years decreased from 85.6 (total number of collections, 13.890) in 2004 compared to 88.0 (total number of collections, 14.259) in 2001 (2.7 % decrease). As blood utilization increases with the advent of more complex therapeutic interventions, blood collection centers are finding it difficult to maintain an adequate blood inventory because the availability of blood for transfusion is dependent on volunteer donors [1]. In the US approximately 40% of the adult population is eligible to donate blood, but just 5% about 5% do so [2]. moreover, only 3.5% of the age-eligible population donates blood in Australia. Donation anxiety due to a previous blood donation experience might be a major predictor of a donor’s future intention not to donate blood. Providing easy access to donation sites, overcoming time demands (such as scheduling appoinments for donation hours) and feeling confident for the procedure, more flexible donation hours, and increasing the number of sites where donation take place have positively influenced blood donation intentions [3]. The present study aimed to determine blood donors’ perceptions of the blood donation experience, behavioural and affective attitudes toward donation, and demographic characteristics that may influence their intention to donate blood in the future.