title: Improved strategy for screening prospective blood donors for anaemia.
abstract: Women (568) and men (531) attending blood donation sessions in Wessex in September, 1992, were assessed for anaemia by the standard CuSO4 method on finger-prick (FP) blood samples. The haemoglobin (Hb) concentration on FP samples and on venous blood was also checked using the HemoCue. Different FP samples from the same donors revealed a wide variation on HemoCue. We recommend retaining the CuSO4 method on FP samples as the initial screen, and follow-up of apparent failures by determining the Hb concentration on venous sampling with the HemoCue. As 54% of females were found on venous samples to be below the current recommended threshold (125 g/L) for Hb concentration, we also recommend lowering the threshold to 115 g/L for women, and to 130 g/L for men. We further recommend a close re-examination of normal haematology values for adults.
authors: Wessex Regional Transfusion Centre, Southampton, U.K.
authors: F E
authors: FE
authors: Boulton
authors: M J
authors: MJ
authors: Nightingale
authors: W
authors: W
authors: Reynolds
mesh_terms: D000740:Anemia / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology; D001782:Blood Donors; D001800:Blood Specimen Collection; D001815:Bloodletting; D011232:Chemical Precipitation; D003300:Copper; D019327:Copper Sulfate; D005069:Evaluation Studies as Topic; D005260:Female; D006452:Hemoglobinometry / Q000191:economics / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008403:Mass Screening / Q000191:economics / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care; D010783:Photometry / Q000191:economics / Q000295:instrumentation; D015995:Prevalence; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity
chemical_list: D003300:Copper; D019327:Copper Sulfate