title: One-year period prevalence of blood transfusion.
abstract: Transfusion practice is reported to differ considerably between countries. Comparisons often rely on transfusion rates, incidence - or prevalence rates. In this paper, the one-year period prevalence rate (1-YPPR) of transfusion of red cells (RBC) is presented. Transfusion data, demographic data and patient data were retrospectively combined to calculate sex and diagnosis specific and age standardized 1-YPPR s of RBC transfusion for the complete population in a Danish county. During the calendar year of 2006, 4427 patients received RBC transfusion in Funen County. The crude 1-YPPR of RBC transfusion was 9.2/1000 citizens. Most of the transfused patients had a main diagnosis of neoplasm (22% of recipients), diseases of the circulatory system (15%), the digestive system (15%), injuries (13%) and diseases of the blood (8%). Age standardization reversed the relation between sex specific 1-YPPRs, yielding a statistically significantly higher 1-YPPR in males (6.8/1000) vs. females (6.3/1000). The method for calculating a diagnosis specific 1-YPPR of transfusion of RBC is presented and proposed as an option for comparison of transfusion practice with other transfusion centres. The crude and the diagnosis specific 1-YPPR s are found to increase with age. Thus, age standardization of crude prevalence rates is necessary for meaningful comparisons between populations.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Immunology, Odense University Hospital, Odense C, Denmark. jtmadsen@dadlnet.dk
authors.forename: J T
authors.initials: JT
authors.lastname: Madsen
authors.forename: M L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Kimper-Karl
authors.forename: U
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Sprogøe
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Georgsen
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Titlestad
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003718:Denmark; D003953:Diagnosis-Related Groups; D017707:Erythrocyte Transfusion / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D038801:International Classification of Diseases; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D055815:Young Adult