EVALUATION OF PRE-DONATION DEFERRAL OF YOUNG VOLUNTARY BLOOD DONORS IN A TERTIARY RURAL TEACHING HOSPITAL

Blood safety is one of the pillars of modern transfusion medicine. It begins with the selection of healthy donors. Blood donor deferrals lead to loss of precious blood units available for transfusion. AIM: 1. To study the reasons for donor deferral of young blood donors. 2. To plan for the better donor recruitment programme. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A retrospective analysis of records of the donors deferred from January 2013 to December 2014 was done to find out the rate and causes of pre – donation deferral at Blood Bank unit of KFMS&R. INCLUSION CRITERIA : All donors between the age group of 18 – 30yrs were included in the study. RESULTS: (A total of 1796 young donors were registered out of which 105 donors were deferred for various causes. 50 male donors and 55 female donors were deferred. The most common cause of deferral was low hemoglobin followed by a history of recent illness in male donors. Among females, the most common cause was low hemoglobin accounting for 96% of the deferrals.