title: Donation return time at fixed and mobile donation sites.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  This study investigated the effect of blood donation environment, fixed or mobile with differing sponsor types, on donation return time.
  
  
  METHODS
  Data from 2006 through 2009 at six US blood centers participating in the Retrovirus Epidemiology Donor Study-II (REDS-II) were used for analysis. Descriptive statistics stratified by whole blood (WB), plateletpheresis (PP), and double red blood cell (R2) donations were obtained for fixed and mobile locations, including median number of donations and median interdonation interval. A survival analysis estimated median return time at fixed and mobile sites, while controlling for censored return times, demographics, blood center, and mandatory recovery times.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Two-thirds (67.9%) of WB donations were made at mobile sites, 97.4% of PP donations were made at fixed sites, and R2 donations were equally distributed between fixed and mobile locations. For donations at fixed sites only or alternating between fixed and mobile sites, the highest median numbers of donations were nine and eight, respectively, and the shortest model-adjusted median return times (controlling for mandatory eligibility times of 56 and 112 days) were 36 and 30 days for WB and R2 donations, respectively. For PP donations, the shortest model-adjusted median return time was 23 days at a fixed location and the longest was 693 days at community locations.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  WB, PP, and R2 donors with the shortest time between donations were associated with fixed locations and those alternating between fixed and mobile locations, even after controlling for differing mandatory recovery times for the different blood donation procedures.
authors: University of Cincinnati Academic Health Center, Cincinnati, Ohio 45267-0055, USA. patricia.carey@uc.edu
authors: Patricia M
authors: PM
authors: Carey
authors: Patrick M
authors: PM
authors: High
authors: Karen S
authors: KS
authors: Schlumpf
authors: Bryce R
authors: BR
authors: Johnson
authors: Alan E
authors: AE
authors: Mast
authors: Jorge A
authors: JA
authors: Rios
authors: Toby L
authors: TL
authors: Simon
authors: Susan L
authors: SL
authors: Wilkinson
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001771:Blood Banks / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D001782:Blood Donors / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D055815:Young Adult