OPINIONS OF BLOOD DONATION: A U.S. POPULATION SURVEY

描述（由研究者提供）：由于血液采集和使用之间的差距持续下降，该国可能面临血液短缺危机。很大比例的医院报告无法满足手术和非手术需求。我们的血液供应是脆弱的，因为只有少数符合条件的个人真正献血。由于担心到欧洲发现牛海绵状脑炎（疯牛病）的地区旅行的献血者可能通过输血传播变异型克雅氏病，因此制定了新的严格的献血者延迟标准，预计将取消8%的献血者的资格。在纽约等严重依赖进口欧洲血液来满足患者需求的地区，这种影响将更为严重。虽然在开发和改进实验室检测以筛查已发现的病毒方面进行了大量研究，但在解决血液供应问题方面做得很少。关于人们为什么不献血的研究非常缺乏。有限的研究解决了当前捐助者的动机；但是没有研究为什么大约55%的人从来没有捐过，或者为什么45%的人至少捐过一次但又停止了。本项目旨在回答这些问题。调查结果对于制定政策和设计招募和保留捐助者的工作都是非常宝贵的。

DESCRIPTION (provided by investigator): The country is potentially facing a blood shortage crisis because the margin between blood collections and use has continued to decline. A significant percentage of hospitals report not being able to meet surgical and non-surgical demands. Adequacy of our blood supply is fragile since only a small number of eligible individuals actually donate blood. Fear of possible transfusion-transmitted variant Creutzfeldt Jakob disease from donors who have traveled to parts of Europe where bovine spongiform encephalitis has been identified (mad cow disease) has resulted in new stringent donor deferral criteria that are projected to disqualify 8 percent of donors. The impact will be even more severe in areas such as New York that rely heavily on imported European blood to meet patients' needs. While there has been considerable research in developing and improving laboratory tests to screen for identified viruses, little has been done to address issues of blood availability. Research on why people do not give blood is sorely lacking. Limited research has addressed motivations in current donors; but have not examined why approximately 55 percent of the population has never donated or why 45 percent donates at least once but stop. This project is designed to answer these questions. Findings will be invaluable for both formulating policy and for designing donor recruitment and retention efforts. We propose to conduct a national random digit dialing telephone survey of individuals between the ages of 18 to 65 to determine the prevalence of donating blood and to assess motivating factors, barriers, and deterrents for donating. Approximately 8000 respondents will be interviewed. The design will enable us to estimate rates for three major racial/ethnic groups, and estimate the percentage of never donors, ex-donors and current donors in each group. We will also assess blood donation attitudes, beliefs, and practices in each racial/ethnic group and make comparisons within the never-and ever-donors to identify significant differences. The survey will also provide the opportunity to objectively assess altruism and determine its importance in donating blood. Results from the survey will be invaluable in helping design effective recruitment and retention programs needed to ensure blood availability. Findings will be rapidly disseminated to the transfusion medical community and government agencies.