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Blood Donation May Cause More Adverse Effects Than Commonly Thought

People who donate blood may experience more adverse effects than commonly thought, report researchers from the American Red Cross Blood Services.

Based on the evaluation of 1000 randomly selected healthy adult blood donors, Bruce E. Newman, Medical Director of Southeastern Michigan Red Cross, Detroit, and colleagues found that 36% of the donors had 1 or more adverse effects 3 weeks after donating whole blood. The most common complaint was bruising of the arm (22.7%), followed by arm stiffness (10%). Haematoma was reported in 1.7%. Among systemic effects, fatigue was the most common complaint (7.8%) followed by vasovagal symptoms (5.3%) and nausea and vomiting (1.1%).

Women (48% vs. 23% of men, p<0.0001) and first-time blood donors (47% vs. 36% of repeat donors, p<0.007) were significantly more likely to experience an adverse effect. No difference was found between African-Americans and Caucasians (31% vs. 38%, p=0.30).

Women reported significantly more adverse effects, however, the researchers suggest that this may be because of their smaller size and the fact that they are more likely to be first-time donors. In addition, it may be that first-time donors are more apt to experience adverse effects because they are younger and weigh less, both factors which are associated with increased risk of vasovagal reactions.

Although the authors cite several limitations of the study, including the small number of African-Americans and first-time donors, they conclude that interviewing donors after blood donation is a good method to elicit information to help improve the safety and comfort of donating blood.
Transfusion 2003;43:5:598-603. "Adverse effects in blood donors after whole-blood donation: a study of 1000 blood donors interviewed 3 weeks after whole-blood donation"

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