Fear of donation‐related stimuli is reported across different levels of donation experience

Abstract

BACKGROUND: This study aimed to characterize the extent of donation-related fears among donors with different levels of donation experience. STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS:A sample of 1054 recent donors (48.3% female; mean 6 SD age 33.1 6 9.8 years) completed an anonymous, online survey of their fear of donation-related stimuli, including blood, needles, pain, and fainting. Respondents also provided information regarding demographics, pain, and vasovagal symptoms associated with their recent donation and confidence and intention with respect to a future donation. RESULTS:The sample was divided into four donation history subgroups, including one, two or three, four or five, or six or more prior donations. A significant negative relationship was observed between donation history and each of the assessed fears, indicating less fear with more experience. However, at least one-third of even the most experienced donors reported some fear for each of the stimuli. Further, greater fear was associated with more pain (r 5 0.35-0.56, all p < 0.001) and more intense vasovagal symptom reports (r 5 0.41-0.61, all p < 0.001). Finally, greater fear was associated with less donor confidence (r 5 -0.24 to -0.33, all p < 0.001) and lower intentions of donating again (r 5 -0.14 to -0.20, all p < 0.001).CONCLUSION: These data provide novel evidence that fear persists for many donors, despite increasing experience, and suggest that a greater appreciation of individual differences in fear is needed to address these concerns and promote long-term donor motivation.

Estimating the risk of blood donation fainting for self versus others: the moderating effect of fear

“…The observed distribution of fear of having blood drawn was similar to prior studies, with 46.7% of the sample (n = 1727) reporting being “not at all afraid”, 31.6% (n = 1170) reporting being “somewhat afraid,” 12.7% (n = 472) reporting being “moderately afraid,” 6.1% (n = 225) reporting being “very afraid,” and 2.9% (n = 108) reporting being “extremely afraid.” In contrast to findings from large‐scale studies where 0.13% to 0.52% of whole blood donors fainted while giving blood and 0.9% to 3.8% experienced prefaint reactions, on average participants in this study estimated their personal risk for faint and prefaint reactions to be 7.7% (SD = 14.3) and 32.2% (SD = 30.3), respectively. They similarly overestimated the risk of such reactions among other blood donors, predicting fainting reactions for 10.2% (SD = 9.9) and prefaint reactions for 30.5% (SD = 19.4) of other donors.…”

“…After providing informed consent, participants were asked a series of demographic questions regarding their age (years), sex (male, female, I prefer another term), and history of blood donation in their lifetime (yes, no) and previous 2 years (yes, no). Next, they completed a fear question that asked, “How afraid are you of having blood drawn from your arm?” Possible responses to the question included “not at all afraid,” “somewhat afraid,” “moderately afraid,” “very afraid,” and “extremely afraid.” It is worth noting that this question is not specific to blood donation; hence, participants may be responding based on their fear of having blood drawn under other circumstances (e.g., collection for medical testing). Participants then estimated the frequency of faint and prefaint symptoms experienced by blood donors.…”

Predonation fears identify young donors at risk for vasovagal reactions

“…For example, with or without controlling for other donor demographic and health information, fear of fainting was the weakest predictor of reactions while fear of seeing blood was the strongest. Fear of seeing blood may be the strongest individual predictor in part because it is the least commonly endorsed fear, reported by only 21.8% of the current sample, combined with the fact that blood is omnipresent in the environment before, during, and after donation. In contrast, the other fears assessed in this study were endorsed by roughly half of all donors and may be perceived as restricted to the blood draw phase of the donation process.…”

Predicting blood donation intention: the importance of fear

“…The strongest specific fear‐related predictor of self‐efficacy and intention was also blood related: “seeing a large bottle of your own blood.” Similarly, the strongest predictor of donation attitudes was the fear of “having blood drawn from your arm.” Higher ratings on these two specific fears were also associated with lower intention to donate, and this effect was mediated by donation attitudes as well as self‐efficacy. These specific fear‐related predictors have also received the most attention in the existing literature, predicting vasovagal reactions and other adverse responses among donors …”

“…Specifically, it is unclear what donors actually fear in the blood donation process and what provokes the anxiety. One recent study measured four types of specific fears among existing blood donors (i.e., needles, blood, pain, and fainting) and found that each was associated with lower intention to donate . Because fear is associated with avoidance, fear might also be especially relevant among nondonors.…”