title: The integration of high-throughput testing of blood donors for cardiovascular disease risk assessment and prevention.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Some blood centers provide health screening as a public health measure and to encourage donation. The goal of the current study was to provide cardiovascular disease (CVD) screening to donors using high-throughput testing and web-based communications.
  
  
  METHODS
  CVD risk screening was offered to donors at selected mobile drives in a large metropolitan area. Risk factors were determined by donor questionnaire, laboratory testing (total cholesterol, HDL levels and hemoglobin A1c), and blood pressure measurement. Results were reported to participants via mail and website. A 60-day follow up web-based survey was sent to participants via email to assess the impact of the program on donor's behavior.
  
  
  RESULTS
  9435 donors, 17-75 years old participated with the following risk factors: 61.3% BMIs>25, 28.8% high total cholesterol, and 31.4% lower than recommended HDL levels. 25.3% of donors that responded to the follow up survey went to see their health care provider based on screening results and 9% of these received new or modified treatment.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In our sample, blood donors are healthier than the general population, but many still have CVD risk factors, particularly obesity. CVD screening can be successfully used to make donors aware of this important health information and some donors act on this information.
authors.affiliation: New York Blood Center, New York, NY, USA. Electronic address: dkessler@nybloodcenter.org.
authors.forename: Debra A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Kessler
authors.forename: Kathleen M
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Grima
authors.forename: Jay E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Valinsky
authors.forename: Caroline
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Ortiz
authors.forename: Christopher D
authors.initials: CD
authors.lastname: Hillyer
authors.forename: Vijay
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Nandi
authors.forename: Robert L
authors.initials: RL
authors.lastname: Jones
authors.forename: Beth H
authors.initials: BH
authors.lastname: Shaz
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001782:Blood Donors; D001794:Blood Pressure; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000097:blood* / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000517:prevention & control*; D002784:Cholesterol / Q000097:blood; D046148:Donor Selection; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006442:Glycated Hemoglobin / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D018570:Risk Assessment; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
chemical_list: D002784:Cholesterol; D006442:Glycated Hemoglobin; C517652:hemoglobin A1c protein, human
keywords: Blood center; Cardiovascular disease risk; Public health