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

描述(由调查人员提供)：该国可能面临血液短缺危机，因为血液收集和使用之间的差距继续下降。有相当大比例的医院报告无法满足手术和非手术的需求。我们血液供应的充分性是脆弱的，因为只有一小部分符合条件的个人实际献血。由于担心可能通过输血传播的变异克雅各布病来自前往欧洲部分地区的捐赠者，在那里发现了牛海绵状脑炎(疯牛病)，这导致了新的严格的捐赠者延迟标准，预计将取消8%的捐赠者的资格。在纽约等严重依赖进口欧洲血液来满足患者需求的地区，影响将更加严重。虽然在开发和改进实验室测试以筛选已识别的病毒方面进行了大量研究，但在解决血液可获得性问题方面做得很少。关于人们为什么不献血的研究非常缺乏。有限的研究解决了现有捐赠者的动机；但没有研究为什么大约55%的人从未捐献过，或者为什么45%的人至少捐献了一次，但停止了捐献。这个项目就是为了回答这些问题。调查结果对于制定政策和设计捐助者的招募和留用工作都将是非常宝贵的。 我们建议对18至65岁的人进行全国随机数字拨号电话调查，以确定献血的流行率，并评估献血的动机因素、障碍和威慑因素。约8000名受访者将接受采访。该设计将使我们能够估计三个主要种族/民族群体的比率，并估计每个群体中从未捐赠者、曾经捐赠者和现任捐赠者的百分比。我们还将评估每个种族/民族的献血态度、信念和做法，并在从未献血和永远献血的人中进行比较，以确定显著的差异。调查还将提供机会，客观地评估利他主义，并确定其在献血中的重要性。调查结果将有助于设计确保血液可获得性所需的有效招募和保留计划。调查结果将迅速传播给输血医疗界和政府机构。

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.