title: Donors' psychological reactions to deferral following false-positive screening test results.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Being notified of a false-positive infectious disease marker result can cause psychological distress in blood donors. A new notification process, informing donors of the possibility of re-entry, was compared with the previous one in which donors were indefinitely deferred to evaluate the mitigating effect on donors' psychological distress levels.
  
  
  METHODS
  Two groups of donors, 'deferred donors' (DD) and 'donors eligible for re-entry' (DER), completed a questionnaire involving 5-point scales. Levels of psychological distress, attitude towards blood donation, desire to donate blood in the future and perception of notification process quality were assessed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Attitudes towards blood donation (P = 0·0276) (DD: 3·94 ± 0·11 vs. DER 4·21 ± 0·09) and perceived quality of communication (P = 0·0108) (DD: 2·72 ± 0·12 vs. DER 3·08 ± 0·10) were significantly improved with the new notification process. No significant difference was found between groups in psychological distress levels or desire to donate blood in the future.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Informing donors of the possibility of re-entry appears to contribute to maintaining a positive predisposition towards future blood donation. It does not, however, appear to alleviate the distress felt after being notified of a false-positive infectious disease marker result, nor does it increase willingness to give blood again in the future.
authors.affiliation: Medical Affairs, Héma-Québec, Montreal, QC, Canada.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Delage
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Myhal
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Grégoire
authors.forename: G-M
authors.initials: GM
authors.lastname: Simmons-Coley
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000097:blood; D001782:Blood Donors / Q000523:psychology*; D005189:False Positive Reactions; D005260:Female; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology*; D006526:Hepatitis C / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008403:Mass Screening; D008875:Middle Aged; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000209:etiology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D000914:Antibodies, Viral
keywords: attitudes; deferral; donor reactions; false positive; psychological distress; retention