Insights into Blood Donors’ Iron Status: Current Practices and Future Directions
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.21276/apalm.3494Keywords:
Voluntary blood donors, Iron status, Serum ferritin, regular donationAbstract
Background: A well organised and properly planned blood transfusion service (BTS) is a crucial component of health care system. According to Drugs and Cosmetic Act, 1940, in India, the minimum acceptable hemoglobin level for blood donation is 12.5 g/dl. Approximately 10% donors are deferred from donation for their low hemoglobin concentration. Regular long term donation is one of the important causes for iron deficiency. The pre-donation iron levels help to address and prevent iron depletion state among the donors. We sought to estimate serum ferritin levels among the voluntary blood donors and its effects on iron pool due to regular donations in our blood centre.
Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted for a period of 6 months from January 2024 to June 2024 in the blood collection centre. 110 voluntary blood donors were selected after appropriate counseling. Pre-donation hematological profile was checked; those with satisfactory values were taken for donation. Simultaneously tested for serum ferritin, and then they were divided into four groups based on the serum ferritin for further analysis.
Result: The donors were between 19–49 years of age. Out of which 10 (9%) were females and 100 (91%) were males donors. 13 (11.8%) donors were having iron deficient state. The mean Hb concentration, MCV, and MCH of donors in group I, group II, group III, and group IV were statistically significant with p-value 0.011, 0.033, and <0.001 respectively.
Conclusion: There was significant correlation between red cell indices and serum ferritin levels; thus, serum ferritin levels.
References
1. Devi DG, Arumugam P, Hamsavardhini S, Radhiga ST. A study of serum ferritin levels among voluntary blood donors. Int J Res Med Sci. 2017 Dec;5(12):5322–9.
2. Saini M, Arya DR, Mahawer NL, Bharti A, Kumar P. A study of iron status among regular voluntary blood donors at a tertiary care centre in western part of Rajasthan, India. Int J Health Clin Res. 2021;4(11):284–7.
3. Spencer BR, Mast AE. Iron status of blood donors. Curr Opin Hematol. 2022 Nov;29(6):310–6.
4. Sweegers MG, Zalpuri S, Quee FA, Veld EMJH, Prinsze FJ, Hoogendijk EO, et al. Ferritin measurement in donors: effectiveness of iron monitoring to diminish iron deficiency and low haemoglobin in whole blood donors (FIND’EM): study protocol for a stepped wedge cluster randomized trial. BMC Public Health. 2020;21:1–10.
5. Moazzen S, Sweegers MG, Janssen M, Hogema BM, Hoekstra T, van den Hurk K. Ferritin trajectories over repeated whole blood donations: results from the FIND+ study. J Clin Med. 2022;11:3851.
6. Singh A, Chaudhary R, Pandey HC, Sonker A. Identification of iron status of blood donors using low hemoglobin density and microcytic anemia factor. Asian J Transfus Sci. 2018;12(1):46–50.
7. Anju J, Abhishekh B, Debdatta B, Bobby Z, Sharan M. Assessment of iron status in regular blood donors in a tertiary care hospital in Southern India. Asian J Transfus Sci. 2022;16:186–93.
8. Kiss JE, Steele WR, Wright DJ, Mast AE, Carey PM, Murphy EL, et al. Laboratory variables for assessing iron deficiency in REDS-II Iron Status Evaluation (RISE) blood donors. Transfusion. 2013;53:2766–75.
9. Moghadam AM, Natanzi MM, Djalali M, Saedisomeolia A, Javanbakht MH, Yaraghi AAS. Relationship between blood donors’ iron status and their age, body mass index and donation frequency. Sao Paulo Med J. 2013;131(6):377–83.
10. Vinkenoog M, van den Hurk K, Kraaji M, van Leeuwen M, Janssen MP. First results of a ferritin-based blood donor deferral policy in the Netherlands. Transfusion. 2020 Aug;60:1785–92.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 S Sushmita, Basavaraj P Bommanahalli
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
- Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access at http://opcit.eprints.org/oacitation-biblio.html).
