title: Ambiguity leads to uncertainty: ambiguous demands to blood donors.
abstract: Blood donors must respond to standard control questions and comply to certain demands before donating blood, to exclude possible recent contamination. This study investigates whether donors had adequate knowledge about 'the immunological window period', and whether the standard questionnaire in use was understandable and clear. It was found that nearly 40% of the donors had inadequate knowledge about 'the immunological window period' and that 10-40% of the donors would respond in various ways to different interpretations of the formulations of the questionnaire, indicating that the questionnaire was ambiguous. It was concluded that these factors could increase the risk of donating on wrong conditions. Demands and control questions posed to donors must be void of ambiguous formulations and take proper account of actual human sexual behaviours and life styles. Finally, it is suggested that blood banks must offer practical solutions (such as a 'fake donation') for temporarily rejected donors in order to respect their private integrity.
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health and Primary Health Care, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway. torill.lindstrom@psysp.uib.no
authors.forename: Torill Christine
authors.initials: TC
authors.lastname: Lindstrøm
authors.forename: Anne
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Røsvik
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001294:Attitude to Health; D015982:Bias; D001782:Blood Donors / Q000193:education* / Q000523:psychology*; D004522:Educational Status; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D017053:Infection Control; D007258:Informed Consent / Q000592:standards*; D008019:Life Style; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009664:Norway; D012307:Risk Factors; D012660:Semantics; D012725:Sexual Behavior; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires / Q000592:standards*; D065227:Transfusion Reaction