The Greifswald Blood Donor Study (GREBDOS): A tool for comparing blood donors with the general population

Lubenow N1, Konerding U2, Alpen U1, Bezold K2, Hoffmann W2, Kohlmann T2, Greinacher A1

1Institute of Transfusion Medicine, 2Institute for Community Medicine, University of Greifswald

Background

Facing major demographic changes (Greinacher et al. 2006), which will cause an increased need for blood transfusion, strategies to motivate donors will be of great importance to secure blood supply. However, few data for comparing blood donors with the general population exist. This makes it difficult to outline strategies for blood donor motivation. In the region of Western Pomerania (north-east Germany) the general population was well characterised by the Study of Health in Pomerania (SHIP, John et al. 2001). We report the design and first results of a study comparing the population of blood donors with the general population within the same region: The Greifswald Blood Donor Study (GREBDOS).

Methods

In GREBDOS over 12 months each 6th person enrolling for blood donation was asked to participate in the study. If this person refused or had already participated, the next 6th person was asked. Complete participation comprised 1) to fill in a structured questionnaire which contained a selection of questions posed in SHIP (see questionnaire attached to poster) and 2) to give a blood sample. To correct for multiple donations the number of donations given within the study interval was recorded for each participant at the end of the study period.

Greinacher A, Fendrich K, Alpen U, Hoffmann W. Impact of demographic changes on the blood supply – Mecklenburg-West Pomerania as a model region for Europe. Transfusion 2006, in press

John U, Greiner B, Hensel E, Ludemann J, Piek M, Sauer S, Adam C, Born G, Alte D, Greiser E, Haertel U, Hense HW, Haerting J, Willich S, Kessler C. Study of Health In Pomerania (SHIP): a health examination survey in an east German region: objectives and design. Soz Praventivmed 2001;46(3):186-94

Results

Figure 1 gives an overview of agreement/refusal to partcipate in the study.Uncorrected for multiple donations the participants’ mean age was 30.2 years (SD=10.3) and the number of females 1 234 (50.0%). Table 1 shows comparison of the study sample with the overall donor population.

Conclusions

This analysis shows the importance of considering potential biases in blood donor surveys due to multiple donations. Additionally, females were overrepresented, as they were more willing to participate. Our study will make comparisons of blood donor characteristics with the general population (SHIP) feasible. GREBDOS will become instrumental for planning future donor recruitment programs.

donation frequency

N gender year of birth

donor

population

study

sample

male% signifi-cance

donor population study sample signifi-cancedonor population study sample mean SD M SD

1 4632 620 45.5 40.2 p<0.01 1975.9 11.0 1976.1 10.0 n.s.2 2800 685 45.9 38.7 p<0.001 1975.1 11.3 1975.0 10.8 n.s.3 1803 645 52.4 49.0 p<0.05 1973.9 11.3 1973.9 11.2 n.s.4 890 359 72.0 68.2 p<0.05 1972.7 11.4 1972.0 11.2 n.s.5 357 149 100.0 100.0 n.s. 1970.7 11.6 1970.7 11.6 n.s.6 26 10 100.0 100.0 n.s. 1968.7 11.2 1975.3 7.9 p<0.05

total10508

total2468Table 1: Distribution of gender and year of birth depending on donation frequency within the study interval (n.s.: not significant)

4014donors asked to participate

883refused participation

535had already paticipated

2345questionnaire + blood sample

62questionnaire only

61blood sample only

2468eligible for donation

2596participated

128not eligible for donation

Figure 1: study participation