Abstract

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES Timely and adequate access to safe blood forms an integral part of universal health coverage, but it may be compromised by natural or man-made disasters. This systematic review provides MATERIALS AND METHODS Five databases (The Cochrane Library, MEDLINE, Embase, Web of Science and CINAHL) were searched until 27 March 2020 for (un)controlled studies investigating the impact of disasters on blood donation rates and/or safety. Risk of bias and overall certainty of the evidence were assessed using the Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) approach. RESULTS Eighteen observational studies were identified, providing very low certainty of evidence (due to high risk of bias, inconsistency and/or imprecision) on the impact of natural (12 studies) and man-made/technological (6 studies) disasters. The available evidence did not enable us to form any generalizable conclusions on the impact on blood donation rates. Meta-analyses could not detect any statistically significant changes in transfusion-transmissible infection (TTI) rates [hepatitis B virus (HBV), hepatitis C virus (HCV), human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-1/2, human T-lymphotropic virus I and II (HTLV-I/II) and syphilis] in donated blood after a disaster, either in first-time or repeat donors, although the evidence is very uncertain. CONCLUSION The very low certainty of evidence synthetized in this systematic review indicates that it is very uncertain whether there is an association between disaster occurrence and changes in TTI rates in donated blood. The currently available evidence did not allow us to draw generalizable conclusions on the impact of disasters on blood donation rates.

Abstract

OBJECTIVE To assess the level of knowledge about blood donation and associated factors in Ethiopia. DESIGN Systematic review and meta-analysis. METHODS Both published and unpublished cross-sectional studies on the level of knowledge about blood donation in Ethiopia were included. Articles from different databases such as PubMed/MEDLINE, HINARI, EMBASE, Scopus, Google Scholar and African Journals Online were searched. Cochrane I(2) statistics were used to check for heterogeneity. Subgroup and sensitivity analyses of evidence of heterogeneity were carried out. Egger's test with funnel plot was conducted to investigate publication bias. RESULT Twenty cross-sectional studies with a total of 8338 study participants (4712 men and 3626 women) were included. The overall nationwide level of knowledge about blood donation was 56.57% (95% CI 50.30 to 62.84). Being in secondary school and above (adjusted OR=3.12; 95% CI 2.34 to 4.16) and being male (adjusted OR=1.81; 95% CI 1.44 to 2.28) were the factors associated with level of knowledge about blood donation. CONCLUSION More than half of the study participants were knowledgeable about blood donation. Sex and educational status were the factors significantly associated with level of knowledge about blood donation in Ethiopia. Therefore, there is a need for education and dissemination of information about blood donation among the general population to build adequate knowledge and maintain regular blood supply.

Abstract

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES Pre-donation screening of potential blood donors is critical for ensuring the safety of the donor blood supply, and donor deferral as a result of risk factors is practised worldwide. This systematic review was conducted in the context of an expert review convened by the Australian Red Cross Lifeblood in 2013 to consider Lifeblood's injecting drug use (IDU)-related policies and aimed to identify studies assessing interventions to improve compliance with deferral criteria in blood donation settings. MATERIALS AND METHODS MEDLINE/PubMed, OVID Medline, OVID Embase, LILACS, and the Cochrane Library (CENTRAL and DARE) databases were searched for studies conducted within blood donation settings that examined interventions to increase blood donor compliance with deferral criteria. Observational and experimental studies from all geographical areas were considered. RESULTS Ten studies were identified that tested at least one intervention to improve blood donor compliance with deferral criteria, including computerized interviews or questionnaires, direct and indirect oral questioning, educational materials, and a combination of a tickbox questionnaire and a personal donor interview. High-quality evidence from a single study was provided for the effectiveness of a computerized interview in improving detection of HIV risk behaviour. Low-quality evidence for the effectiveness of computerized interviews was provided by 3 additional studies. Two studies reported a moderate effect of direct questioning in increasing donor deferral, but the quality of the evidence was low. CONCLUSION This review identified several interventions to improve donor compliance that have been tested in blood donation settings and provided evidence for the effectiveness of computerized interviews in improving detection of risk factors.

Abstract

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES Blood services are tasked with efficiently maintaining a reliable blood supply, and there has been much debate over the use of incentives to motivate prosocial activities. Thus, it is important to understand the relative effectiveness of interventions for increasing donations. MATERIALS AND METHODS This systematic review used a broad search strategy to identify randomized controlled trials comparing interventions for increasing blood donations. After full-text review, 28 trials from 25 published articles were included. Sufficient data for meta-analysis were available from 27 trials. Monetary incentives were assumed to be equivalent regardless of value, and non-monetary incentives were assumed to be equivalent regardless of type. Non-incentive-based interventions identified included existing practice, letters, telephone calls, questionnaires, and the combination of a letter & telephone call. A network meta-analysis was used to pool the results from identified trials. A subgroup analysis was performed in populations of donors and non-donors as sensitivity analyses. RESULTS The best performing interventions were letter & telephone call and telephone call-only with odds ratios of 3.08 (95% CI: 1.99, 4.75) and 1.99 (95% CI: 1.47, 2.69) compared to existing practice, respectively. With considerable uncertainty around the pooled effect, we found no evidence that monetary incentives were effective at increasing donations compared to existing practice. Non-monetary incentives were only effective in the donor subgroup. CONCLUSION When pooling across modes of interventions, letter & telephone call and telephone call-only are effective at increasing blood donations. The effectiveness of incentives remains unclear with limited, disparate evidence identified.

Abstract

BACKGROUND Blood donation is a novel act to save the lives of people who face serious medical and surgical conditions. Since the demand for blood supply is too high, there is a shortage of blood which causes significant morbidity and mortality. To increase blood supply and maintain adequate quantity of blood, regular and volunteer blood donation practice is needed, which meets the increased demand for blood. Therefore, this systematic review and meta-analysis was aimed at assessing the prevalence of blood donation practices and associated factors in Ethiopia. METHOD PubMed/MEDLINE, HINARI, Embase, Scopus, Google Scholar, African Journals Online (AJOL), and published and unpublished articles from the Ethiopian University repository were searched to find articles. Cochrane I (2) statistics and Egger's test with funnel plots were done to check heterogeneity and publication bias, respectively. Subgroup analysis by region, study subjects, study setting, and sample size was done due to heterogeneity, as well as sensitivity analysis. RESULT Twenty studies from different regions with a total study subject of 8546 were included in the final review. The pooled prevalence of blood donation practice in Ethiopia was 25.82% (95% CI: 21.45-30.19). Having good knowledge of blood donation (AOR = 2.85; 95% CI: 2.33-3.48) and favorable attitude (AOR = 4.35; 95% CI: 2.93-6.45) were factors associated with blood donation practice in Ethiopia. CONCLUSION The pooled prevalence of blood donation practices in Ethiopia was short of the demand for blood due to the increase in serious medical conditions and road traffic accidents. Knowledge and attitude towards blood donation were significantly associated with blood donation practice. Therefore, awareness creation and health education programs targeting blood donation practice should be strengthened.

Abstract

BACKGROUND Analysis of the literature suggests that changes relating to blood donations and blood component transfusion are occurring due to the aging of the population. OBJECTIVE To gain better understanding of the demand and supply of these inputs over time, and to identify the main associated demographic characteristics. DESIGN AND SETTING Systematic review conducted on time series relating to blood donations and blood component transfusions worldwide. METHODS A systematic review of the literature was conducted based on articles that presented time series relating to blood donation or blood component transfusion. RESULTS We found 1,814 articles. After the deletion process, only thirteen were read. Overall, these suggested that there is increasing demand for blood components and decreasing donation. The existence of seasonality regarding blood donation was pointed out. Men usually donated more blood and demanded more blood components than women. Approximately 50% of blood transfusions were performed in people aged ≥ 60 years. CONCLUSIONS This analysis on articles that presented time series relating to blood donations and blood component transfusion showed that aging of the population was the main factor associated with the increasing demand for blood and the decreasing supply of blood.

Abstract

Ethnic/racial minorities are under-represented in blood donor populations in most developed countries. This is of particular concern where minorities differ from a country's majority population in terms of blood or tissue typing, especially where type matching is required for effective management of rare disorders such as sickle-cell disease that require multiple transfusions. This systematic review assessed the effectiveness of interventions to increase blood donation among ethnic/racial minority populations in developed countries. We searched MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, and ProQuest on 20 March 2017 with no date restrictions and supplemented this with searches on Google Scholar, blood collection agency websites, reference lists of included studies, and a forward search of citations of included studies. We included intervention studies designed to increase recruitment and/or retention of adult, ethnic/racial minority blood donors in developed countries. The review identified eight studies reported in nine publications. Six were conducted in the USA with African Americans. Four studies reported on multifaceted, community-based interventions; three reported on one-off information and educational video interventions, presented face-to-face, or delivered via post or e-mail. The level of evidence for efficacy was low, and the majority of studies were assessed as having some risk of bias related to one or more methodological issues. All eight studies reported positive outcomes in blood donation and/or intention to donate. Seven trials found that the intervention increased presentation for donation, and three found an increase in the percentage of new donors from the ethnic minority targeted. The review findings demonstrate that it is possible to design and implement effective interventions to motivate individuals from ethnic/racial minority groups to donate blood. One-off interventions may be as effective as multifaceted, community-based interventions. There was insufficient evidence to recommend particular interventions, and future research should empirically assess alternative interventions using robust study designs.

Abstract

BACKGROUND Minority blood donations have historically been low in the United States; however, increasing the proportion of minority blood donations is essential to reducing blood transfusion complications-particularly in African Americans with sickle cell disease and thalassemia. OBJECTIVES The research question was: What are the facilitators and barriers to blood donation in minority populations? METHODS Beginning August 2017, we conducted a literature search using the electronic databases: CINAHL Plus with Full Text, Academic Search Complete, MEDLINE, PsycINFO, Sociological Collection, Cochrane Library, ProQuest Dissertation and Theses, and PubMed, that continued through December 2017. Based on primarily descriptive data in the articles (n = 15), the systematic review proceeded as a meta-synthesis. An inductive approach was used to analyze commonalities, differences, patterns, and themes in the study findings, interpret the findings, and synthesize the findings to generate new knowledge about the phenomena of study. RESULTS The themes included (a) knowing a blood recipient; (b) identifying with culture, race/ethnicity, and religious affiliation; and (c) medical mistrust and misunderstanding. All were prominent in the descriptions of minorities on blood donation and exist as facilitators and barriers. DISCUSSION The reviewed studies demonstrated that facilitators and barriers to minority blood donations are complex and exist concurrently. Community education and communication about blood donation has a positive effect on fellow community members, including friends and family, in racial and ethnic minorities that are underrepresented among blood donors. Findings further suggests the need to rebuild trust among minority communities.This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives License 4.0 (CCBY-NC-ND), where it is permissible to download and share the work provided it is properly cited. The work cannot be changed in any way or used commercially without permission from the journal.

Abstract

Blood donors attending a donation session may be deferred from donating blood due to a failure to meet low hemoglobin (Hb) thresholds. This costs the blood donor service and donors valuable time and resources. In addition, donors who are deferred may have more symptoms, and as a direct and/or indirect effect of their experience, return rates of donors deferred for low Hb are reduced, even in repeat donors. It is therefore vital that low Hb deferral (LHD) is minimized. The aim of this updated systematic review is to expand the evidence base for factors which affect a donor's risk of deferral due to low Hb. Studies were identified by searching MEDLINE, Embase, The Cochrane Library, and the WHO International Clinical Trials Registry to March 2019. Demographic data, donor history, hematological/biological factors, and the primary outcome of deferral due to low Hb were extracted. Our primary outcome was deferral due to low Hb. Analyses were descriptive and quantitative; pooled odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were obtained by meta-analysis using random-effects models. A total of 116 studies met the inclusion criteria. Meta-analysis showed a significantly greater risk of LHD in females compared with males in studies applying universal Hb thresholds for males and females (OR 14.62 95% CI 12.43-17.19) and in those which used sex-specific thresholds (OR 5.73, 95% CI 4.36-7.53). Higher rates of LHD were also associated with increasing age in men, low body weight, shorter interdonation interval, donors of Hispanic or African descent, higher ambient temperature, donors with low ferritin levels, and donation in a fixed donor center. There was conflicting evidence on the effect of new and repeat donor status, and blood group. This work has strengthened the evidence of the previous review in identifying factors that should be considered in studies of donor deferral and highlighting areas in need of further study, including ABO and Rh blood groups, previous platelet donation, diet, smoking, time of day, and genetic data. These factors may lead to individually tailored donation criteria for safe and efficient donation in the future.

Abstract

BACKGROUND Adverse events during donation negatively impact the likelihood of subsequent donation. Syncope is a possible complication of blood donation in healthy individuals. This systematic review aims to identify risk factors for syncope in healthy blood donors. STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS Medline, Embase, Cochrane, CINAHL, Web of Science, Transfusion Evidence Library, and PubMed libraries up to November 2016 were searched. Inclusion criteria were observational and interventional trials, case series including more than 10 participants, randomized controlled trials, and clinical trials. Papers required data pertaining to syncopal events separate from presyncope for inclusion. Incomplete text or non-English language versions were excluded. Papers were evaluated using the CHARMS 2014 checklist. RESULTS From 3316 papers, 1297 unique citations were identified, and 11 were selected for data extraction. Sex, estimated blood volume, age, donor status, blood pressure, heart rate, weight, previous reaction, caffeine, sleep, and donation site were identified as risk factors for syncope during blood donation. CONCLUSION Possible risk factors for syncope in healthy blood donors have been identified that could allow for improved screening prior to donation and potential reduction in donor attrition due to negative experiences.