title: Negative experiences and pre-donation blood pressure: the role of attitude and anxiety.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Negative experiences (NEs) have been shown to result in an increased stress response, as indicated by blood pressure, at the subsequent donation. This response might be influenced by how the donor rates the donation in terms of importance and pleasantness [affective attitude (AA)/cognitive attitude (CA)] or by anxiety about donating blood. We investigated the effect of AA/CA/anxiety on the impact of NEs on pre-donation blood pressure (pd-BP) in the subsequent donation.
  
  
  METHODS
  pd-BP at visit 3 was compared between donors with and without a history of NEs during or after their first two visits (visit 1: medical check, visit 2: first donation). The effect of AA/CA/anxiety (measured 1 month prior to visit 1 on a 7-point scale) on visit 3 pd-BP was explored using linear regression and interaction analyses. Analyses were stratified for gender, age and pd-BP at visit 1, which were taken into account as confounders.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In 1106 first-time blood donors (70% female), 632 donors (57% of total) indicated an NE at their first donation. Mean scores for AA/CA/anxiety were 5·2/6·5/2·2 (men without NE), 4·8/6·3/3·0 (men with NE), 5·2/6·6/2·6 (women without NE) and 4·8/6·6/3·2 (women with NE). No significant associations were found for NE and pd-BP at visit 3 after adjusting for confounding. Of 48 interaction effects, four were significant, but effects were small and inconsistent.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In donors who had had negative experiences during their first donation, anxiety and attitude to donation did not influence their pre-donation blood pressure at their subsequent visit.
authors.affiliation: Department of Donor Studies, Sanquin Research, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.|Landsteiner Laboratory, Academic Medical Centre, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.|Coronel Institute of Occupational Health, Academic Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: M D
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Hoogerwerf
authors.affiliation: Department of Donor Studies, Sanquin Research, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: van Dongen
authors.affiliation: Center for Clinical Transfusion Research, Sanquin Research, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.|Department of Clinical Epidemiology, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: R A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Middelburg
authors.affiliation: Department of Donor Studies, Sanquin Research, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.|Department of Sociology, VU University, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: E-M
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Merz
authors.affiliation: Department of Donor Studies, Sanquin Research, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.|Department of Social Medicine, Academic Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: W L A M
authors.initials: WL
authors.lastname: de Kort
authors.affiliation: Coronel Institute of Occupational Health, Academic Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: M H W
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Frings-Dresen
authors.affiliation: Coronel Institute of Occupational Health, Academic Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: J K
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Sluiter
authors.affiliation: Coronel Institute of Occupational Health, Academic Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.|Department of Physiology, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: I J T
authors.initials: IJ
authors.lastname: Veldhuizen
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001007:Anxiety / Q000503:physiopathology*; D001294:Attitude to Health; D001782:Blood Donors; D001794:Blood Pressure; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008016:Life Change Events; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000503:physiopathology*
keywords: adverse reactions; anxiety; attitude; blood donors; blood pressure; deferral; gender