Prevalence of blood donor iron deficiency and feasibility ferritin-based iron replacement: a blood collection agency-based study

Abstract

Iron depletion is high in frequent whole-blood donors. It is of interest to blood centres to develop ways to mitigate this risk while maintaining the current blood supply. Our feasibility study shows that blood collection agencies can measure iron stores and safely offer iron replacement in frequent blood donors with low ferritin to reduce the risk of iron depletion and future donor deferrals for low haemoglobin.

Keywords: blood collection; blood donation testing; donor health; donors; ferritin haemoglobin measurement; iron replacement.