Demographic profile of blood donors at three major Brazilian blood centers: results from the International REDS-II study, 2007 to 2008.
BACKGROUND
The profile of blood donors changed dramatically in Brazil over the past 20 years, from remunerated to nonremunerated and then from replacement to community donors. Donor demographic data from three major blood centers establish current donation profiles in Brazil, serving as baseline for future analyses and tracking longitudinal changes in donor characteristics.


METHODS
Data were extracted from the blood center, compiled in a data warehouse, and analyzed. Population data were obtained from the Brazilian census.


RESULTS
During 2007 to 2008, there were 615,379 blood donations from 410,423 donors. A total of 426,142 (69.2%) were from repeat (Rpt) donors and 189,237 (30.8%) were from first-time (FT) donors. Twenty percent of FT donors returned to donate in the period. FT donors were more likely to be younger, and Rpt donors were more likely to be community donors. All were predominantly male. Replacement donors still represent 50% of FT and 30% of Rpt donors. The mean percentage of the potentially general population who were donors was approximately 1.2% for the three centers (0.7, 1.5, and 3.1%). Adjusting for the catchment's area, the first two were 2.1 and 1.6%.


CONCLUSIONS
Donors in the three Brazilian centers tended to be younger with a higher proportion of males than in the general population. Donation rates were lower than desirable. There were substantial differences in sex, age, and community/replacement status by center. Studies on the safety, donation frequencies, and motivations of donors are in progress to orient efforts to enhance the availability of blood.
Carneiro-Proietti
Anna Bárbara
AB
Hemominas Foundation, Rua Grão Pará, 882 Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil 30150-241. anna.proietti@hemominas.mg.gov.br
Sabino
Ester C
EC
Sampaio
Divaldo
D
Proietti
Fernando A
FA
Gonçalez
Thelma T
TT
Oliveira
Cláudia D L
CD
Ferreira
João E
JE
Liu
Jing
J
Custer
Brian
B
Schreiber
George B
GB
Murphy
Edward L
EL
Busch
Michael P
MP
D017677:Age Distribution; D000367:Age Factors; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001782:Blood Donors / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D001803:Blood Transfusion / Q000592:standards / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D017848:Blood-Borne Pathogens / Q000145:classification; D001938:Brazil; D003710:Demography; D005260:Female; D006291:Health Policy; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011634:Public Health; D012727:Sex Characteristics