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Research Article
Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on whole blood donation: Perspective of a Portuguese Hospital Blood Bank
1 Serviço de Sangue e Medicina Transfusional do Centro Hospitalar Tondela-Viseu, Portugal
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Filipa Martins Pereira
Av. Rei D. Duarte, 3504-509 Viseu,
Portugal
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Article ID: 100070Z02FP2022
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How to cite this article
Pereira FM, Moura L, Fonseca L, Brito A, Lobo F, Amaral AP, Costa M. Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on whole blood donation: Perspective of a Portuguese Hospital Blood Bank. Int J Blood Transfus Immunohematol 2022;12:100070Z02FP2022.ABSTRACT
Aims: COVID-19 brought shortages in blood stocks worldwide. To try to understand the distribution of the number of donations throughout the pandemic, we carried out a study to assess our donors’ sense of security and fear.
Methods: Retrospective study that includes all blood donors in our blood bank between July and August 2021. We surveyed the number of blood donations at our center since 2015 and applied a questionnaire to assess motivation, fear, feeling of security, and satisfaction in the implemented security measures and in the access to information about COVID-19 and donation.
Results: A total of 558 donors were included in the study, most were men (313), and the median age was 41 years. There was a drop in the number of donations in March and April 2020, but no differences were found in the total number of donations over the years and in 2020. Some donors (n=136) reported being afraid to donate blood during the pandemic. Seventy-one participants had COVID-19 and 425 were vaccinated. Donors felt safer and less fearful after vaccination or illness. Overall donors felt safe during blood donation.
Conclusion: Although donors overcome the fear of donating blood during COVID-19 pandemic and feel safe with the implementation of procedures to prevent the transmission of infection, we must implement and review donor safety measures that increase their trust in the blood bank and guarantee their return.
Keywords: Blood donation, COVID-19, Donor motivation, Donor satisfaction
SUPPORTING INFORMATION
Acknowledgments
We would like to thank Ms. Rosa Tomás for her support in data collection.
Author ContributionsFilipa Martins Pereira - Conception of the work, Design of the work, Acquisition of data, Analysis of data, Drafting the work, Revising the work critically for important intellectual content, Final approval of the version to be published, Agree to be accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved.
Luís Moura - Acquisition of data, Revising the work critically for important intellectual content, Final approval of the version to be published, Agree to be accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved.
Liliana Fonseca - Acquisition of data, Revising the work critically for important intellectual content, Final approval of the version to be published, Agree to be accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved.
Arnaldo Brito - Conception of the work, Design of the work, Revising the work critically for important intellectual content, Final approval of the version to be published, Agree to be accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved.
Filipe Lobo - Acquisition of data, Revising the work critically for important intellectual content, Final approval of the version to be published, Agree to be accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved.
Ana Palmira Amaral - Conception of the work, Design of the work, Acquisition of data, Drafting the work, Revising the work critically for important intellectual content, Final approval of the version to be published, Agree to be accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved.
Marina Costa - Conception of the work, Design of the work, Acquisition of data, Drafting the work, Revising the work critically for important intellectual content, Final approval of the version to be published, Agree to be accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved.
Guarantor of SubmissionThe corresponding author is the guarantor of submission.
Source of SupportNone
Consent StatementWritten informed consent was obtained from the patient for publication of this article.
Data AvailabilityAll relevant data are within the paper and its Supporting Information files.
Conflict of InterestAuthors declare no conflict of interest.
Copyright© 2022 Filipa Martins Pereira et al. This article is distributed under the terms of Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium provided the original author(s) and original publisher are properly credited. Please see the copyright policy on the journal website for more information.
