Blood donors' attitudes towards voluntary non-remunerated donation in Trinidad and Tobago

K S Charles; A Poon King; A Ramai; K Rajnath; D Ramkissoon; S Ramkissoon; C Ramlal; K Ramnarine; K Rampersad; G Legall; S Pooransingh; A D Chantry

doi:10.1111/tme.12429

Blood donors' attitudes towards voluntary non-remunerated donation in Trinidad and Tobago

Transfus Med. 2017 Aug;27(4):249-255. doi: 10.1111/tme.12429. Epub 2017 May 26.

Authors

K S Charles¹, A Poon King², A Ramai³, K Rajnath³, D Ramkissoon³, S Ramkissoon³, C Ramlal³, K Ramnarine³, K Rampersad³, G Legall¹, S Pooransingh¹, A D Chantry⁴

Affiliations

¹ Department of Paraclinical Sciences, Faculty of Medical Sciences, The University of the West Indies, Saint Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago.
² Velindre Cancer Centre, Cardiff, South Wales, UK.
³ Faculty of Medical Sciences, The University of the West Indies, Saint Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago.
⁴ Department of Oncology, University of Sheffield Medical School, Sheffield, UK.

PMID: 28547759
DOI: 10.1111/tme.12429

Abstract

Objectives: To assess the attitude towards voluntary non-remunerated blood donation among blood donors in Trinidad and Tobago (TRT).

Background: Blood donors in TRT are either family replacement (F/R, 87%) or remunerated (13%). There is chronic blood shortage and high seroreactivity for transfusion-transmissible infections (TTI) in donors. Converting existing to voluntary non-remunerated donors (VNRD) reduces the need to recruit news donors in achieving 100% VNRD.

Methods: A questionnaire-based, cross-sectional survey was conducted at two blood collection centres at an interval of 8 years. Donors were surveyed for sociodemographic characteristics, awareness of the blood shortage, previous donation behaviour, donor-beneficiary linkage if F/R, willingness to become VNRD and choice of motivators for converting to VNRD.

Results: A total of 400 and 595 donors respectively participated in Surveys 1 and 2, of whom 92·8 and 86·3% were F/R (P < 0·001), respectively. In both surveys, 52% of participants were unaware of an existing blood shortage (P = 0·983). Only 9·8 and 9·1% of participants expressed unwillingness to become VNRD (P = 0·720). The main motivators to convert to VNRD were reminders from the centre (84%) and extended opening hours (78%) in Survey 1 as compared to confidence that donated blood was used properly (73%) and shortened waiting times to donate (73%) in Survey 2.

Conclusion: Despite low awareness of blood shortage, willingness to become VNRD was high among existing donors. Accountability and donor convenience underpinned the main motivators for converting to VNRD.

Keywords: Trinidad and Tobago; altruistic; blood donation; conversion; voluntary.

MeSH terms

Attitude*
Blood Donors / psychology*
Cross-Sectional Studies
Female
Humans
Male
Surveys and Questionnaires*
Trinidad and Tobago