Sociodemographic Profile of Blood Donations and Ways to Encourage Them

Abstract

Introduction: Maintaining blood stocks in Brazil faces challenges; hence, it is crucial to develop effective strategies to recruit and retain donors, such as campaigns and social marketing programs to raise awareness, but there is a lack of studies about the donators' profiles, as well as their barriers or incentives.Objective: The objective of this study was to analyze the characteristics of donors and the factors that influence their decisions.Methods: This was a cross-sectional study carried out between April and November 2022 using a structured questionnaire sent through a community created on Facebook, addressing common people over 18 years old, containing closed questions, supported by Google Forms. Statistical analyses were carried out using IBM SPSS Statistics for Windows, Version 17 (Released 2008; IBM Corp., Armonk, New York, United States) and the Chi-square and Fisher's exact tests, with p < 0.05.Results: The sample relied on 1019 participants, women (72.8%), age group > 30 years (81.1%), the most represented blood type was O positive (37.5%), and men donated more frequently than women (76.5% vs. 40.6%). The main reasons for not donating are medical conditions (39.7%) and lack of time (33.8%). The main reasons for donating are helping voluntarily (97.6%) and donating to family/friends (96.4%).Conclusion: There was a significant difference between the genders of blood donors, with more men donating, especially those over 30 years old, and with income between 1-8 minimum wages. The main barriers to donating are lack of time and information. Based on this, it is possible to target campaigns at women, young people, and people with income above nine minimum wages. The main reasons for donating are altruism, obtaining test results, and financial benefits.