Objectives This study aims at evaluating whether subjective donor deferral (SDD) has the potential for increasing blood transfusion safety. Background Appropriate donor selection via clinical and serologic screening is necessary to prevent transfusion‐transmissible infections (TTIs). One additional strategy adopted by some Brazilian blood transfusion centers (BTCs) is the rejection of a donation by the pre‐donation interviewer based on subjective factors. Methods/Materials We conducted a STROBE‐guided cross‐sectional study including 105 005 prospective donors who presented to our BTC between 1 January 2013, and 31 December 2015. Donors were evaluated for age, gender, education level, donation type and history, confidential unit exclusion, SDD, and results of serologic screening for TTIs. Results Even after controlling for potential confounding variables, subjectively deferred donors were more likely to have at least one reactive serology in the standard screening (OR: 2.80; 95% CI: 2.13‐3.69; P < .001). They also had a higher risk for testing positive for syphilis (OR: 4.47; 95% CI: 3.05‐6.55; P < .001), hepatitis B (OR: 5.69; 95% CI: 2.48‐13.08; P < .001), and HIV (OR: 6.14; 95% CI: 3.22‐11.69; P < .001). Conclusions Routine implementation of SDD in donor selection may be an effective additional measure to avoid TTIs, highlighting the importance of interviewer experience, perspicacity, and face‐to‐face contact with donors for blood safety assurance.

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