Visits to general practitioners after iron-related deferrals from blood donation in middle-aged and older Australian blood donors
Abstract
Background:
Australian Red Cross Lifeblood (Lifeblood) advises donors to visit their general practitioner (GP) for medical follow-up if they are deferred from donating due to having a lower than acceptable level of hemoglobin (Hb) and/or serum ferritin (iron-related deferrals).
Methods:
We used the Sax Institute's 45 and Up Study data linked to Lifeblood's donor datasets and other health administrative datasets. We examined the rate of visits to a GP after iron-related deferral from donation, and investigated whether an early visit to a GP (within 30 days following the deferral) had an impact on return to make successful donation within 12, 18, and 24 months compared to a delayed or no GP visit.
Results:
A total of 1928 donors underwent iron-related deferral. The rate of visits to a GP in the first month after deferral was double the rate observed a month prior. However, only 52.4% of those deferred visited a GP early with slightly more than half of those receiving an iron-monitoring test. Return to donate over the 24 months was lower in donors visiting their GP early (adjusted Hazard Ratio [aHR] 0.86, 95% CI 0.77–0.97). Early GP visitors were likely to have a relatively poorer health than the delayed or no GP visit group.
Conclusions:
Only half of the donors with an iron-related deferral followed advice from Lifeblood and visited their GP within 30 days of deferral, and these donors have a significantly reduced likelihood of future successful blood donation which may be due to their relatively poorer health status.
Document Type
Journal Article
Date of Publication
12-1-2021
Volume
61
Issue
12
PubMed ID
34617291
Publication Title
Transfusion
Publisher
Wiley
School
School of Medical and Health Sciences
RAS ID
37024
Copyright
subscription content
First Page
3335
Last Page
3343
Comments
Karki, S., Davison, T. E., Liu, B., Bell, K., Olynyk, J. K., Hayen, A., & Irving, D. O. (2021). Visits to general practitioners after iron‐related deferrals from blood donation in middle‐aged and older Australian blood donors. Transfusion, 61(12), 3335-3343.
https://doi.org/10.1111/trf.16701