Establishing Valid Blood Donor Hematology Standards in Nigeria: Addressing Discrepancies from U.S. Guideline

Background: Blood transfusion is a lifesaving process and therapy which is required for a wide range of health conditions such as severe anaemia, severe trauma, obstetric complications in pregnancy or parturition and surgical procedures. Adequate selection of a prospective whole blood donor protects his health and safety of the recipient.

Objectives: The main objective of this study was to determine the haematology parameters of apparently healthy prospective whole blood donors.

Participants and Methods: This prospective hospital based study was carried out from August to October 2020 at the blood transfusion unit of the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH), Ikeja, Nigeria. A structured pretested questionnaire was used for data collection. The socio demographic status and the haematology parameters of apparently healthy prospective whole blood donors who tested negative for HIV, hepatitis B and C markers were captured. Obtained data were analysed with the statistical package for the social scientist software version 20.

Results: One hundred male (97.1%) and three female (2.9%) apparently healthy prospective whole blood donors were studied. The median age of study subjects was 30 years. Obtained median haematology parameter values were 13 g/dl, 40%, 4.9/nl and 203.9/nl for haemoglobin concentration, haematocrit, total white cell and platelet counts respectively. The median values for the mean corpuscular haemoglobin concentration (MCHC), mean corpuscular haemoglobin (MCH) and mean corpuscular volume (MCV) of participants were 32.6 g/dl, 27.7 pg and 85.7 fl respectively. Observed prevalence of subnormal haematology parameters for haemoglobin concentration, total white cells, platelets were 12.6%, 25.2%, and 13.6% respectively. Also sub- normal values for MCHC, MCH, MCV were 11.7%, 26.2%, and 16.5% respectively among prospective whole blood donors in this study. No higher than normal haematology parameter values were observed. Median values for erythrocyte sedimentation rate was 8.4 mm/hr. The predominance of the younger people in the blood donor pool may be explained by the fact that the youth have a better knowledge about blood donation, through being vast in digital technology.

Conclusion: A significant percentage of apparently healthy prospective whole blood donors had sub- normal haematology parameters values. Obtained normal values in our study are comparable with local reference range reports from previous studies in Nigeria and other parts of Africa. A health education and awareness pro- gram about the harmless nature of blood donation exercises for the females is critical and should be encouraged and emphasized.