Determinants of Blood Donor Retention in a Nigerian Tertiary Health Care Blood Transfusion Facility: A Pilot Quality Improvement Initiative Repeat Blood Donation in Nigeria

Abstract

Background: Many hospitals in Nigeria and the rest of sub-Saharan Africa continue to grapple with the scarcity of units of blood for transfusion. Developing appropriate actionable plans geared towards the retention of a pool of voluntary blood donors may be helpful in addressing this trend in the health care industry. Objective: To ascertain the proportion of repeat blood donors in a Nigerian tertiary care blood bank and identify factors that influence their retention. Materials and Methods: An interviewer-administered questionnaire was administered to 212 prospective blood donors. The primary outcome was the re-donation frequency, while secondary outcome variables were the self-reported deterrents to repeat donation. Results: Seventy-six participants (67.86%) donated blood more than once in the last 2 years, while only 3 donors (2.68%) donated blood up to 3-4 times in a year. The general fear of the blood donation process and the size of the blood bag needle (25% respectively) were the predominant self-reported deterrents to repeat donation. Conclusion: Our re-donation rate is lower than the recommended average yearly donation frequency; fear of the entire donation process as well as the blood bag needle size appeared to deter blood donors from re-donation.