title: Gender differences and frequency of whole blood donation in Italian donors: even though I want to, I cannot?
abstract: Women are under-represented among blood donors and this difference is particularly strong in Italy. This study explore the reasons for the gender gap using a sample of donors who had stopped donating at least two years previously and analyzing the role of frequency of donation. No significant gender differences emerged between the reasons provided by subjects but Italy was the country with the longest prescribed interval between whole blood donations for women. The gender gap is related to the lengthy interval between successive donations of whole blood and reducing this interval could help increase the proportion of women donors.
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Science, University of Milano-Bicocca, Italy. Electronic address: marco.bani1@unimib.it.
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bani
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Science, University of Milano-Bicocca, Italy.
authors.forename: Mariagrazia
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Strepparava
authors.affiliation: AVIS (Associazione Volontari Italiani Sangue - Association Italian Blood Volonteers) sezione Provinciale Bergamo, Italy.
authors.forename: Barbara
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Giussani
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000533:Altruism; D001782:Blood Donors; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007558:Italy; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009042:Motivation; D012737:Sex Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
keywords: Blood donors; Frequency of donations; Gender differences; Motivation