Analysis of the most common causes of blood donor deferral in southern of Mozambique

Background Blood transfusion is essential in modern medicine, but transfusion of blood may present for both the blood donor as well as the recipient risks. Strategies such as pre-interview (including clinical assessment) of donors and the subsequent testing of donated blood for infectious agents are steps taken to guarantee blood transfusion safety. With this the study aimed to assess the frequency and reasons for blood donation deferrals at blood banks in southern of Mozambique. Methods This was a cross-sectional study conducted on blood donation candidates between December 2022 and January 2024 in the provinces of Gaza and Inhambane, situated in the southern region of Mozambique. Blood donation candidates answered a questionnaire on demographic characteristics and venous blood was collected in three 6 ml K2EDTA tubes samples. The plasma was separated from the whole blood and used for serological and molecular tests for HIV, HBV and HCV. Deferral data in the routine pre-interview was subsequently collected at each blood bank. Results A total of 3862 donors participated in the study, of which 72.2% were replacement donors. The overall donor deferral rate in pre-interview was 5.2 %, with low hemoglobin being the main reason for temporary deferral at pre-interview (41.0%), followed by syphilis or other sexually transmitted infection suspect (23.0%). The HBV (50.8%) and HIV (30.5%) infections were the main reasons for permanent deferral. Male donors were less likely to be deferred for blood donation (AOR 0.63, 95% CI 0.45 - 0.89) compared to female donors. Conclusion The method used to measure hemoglobin, the higher seroprevalence of infectious agents in donated blood, and the greater deferral of women may be related to the blood donors deferral in Mozambique. This results reinforce the need to improve the process of clinical assessment, selection, and retention of blood donation candidates, to have consistent volunteer donors.