Retrospective Study on the Blood Donor Deferral Pattern in a Tertiary Care Hospital

Background: Blood is essential for saving lives, particularly in emergency conditions.Therefore, an adequate supply of safe blood is the backbone of the healthcare delivery system of any country.Voluntary blood donation is regarded as a safe practice.However, deferrals due to temporary or permanent reasons lead to a significant loss of blood donors.Therefore, knowledge of the donor profile and deferrals can help in devising strategies to motivate donors and increase retention.Methods: This retrospective study was conducted from January 2021 to October 2025.A total of 28295 records of donors were included, provided they met the inclusion and exclusion criteria.Only complete records were included.Records of professional or apheresis donors were excluded.Demographic details and relevant histories were noted.Reasons for deferral were recorded and categorized as temporary or permanent deferral as per national guidelines.Results: There was a male preponderance (93.51%).65.02% donors belonged to the 18 to 30 years of age.The overall deferral rate was 7.49%, with 79.10% being temporary deferrals.Low hemoglobin was the commonest cause of temporary deferral (25.82%), followed by alcohol intake (15.62%) and medications (14.37%).Rest accounted for less than 10% patients each.Amongst permanent deferrals, cardiac disease (38.60%) and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (37.25%) were the commonest causes.Conclusion: The majority of the blood donors are young males.Most of the deferrals are for temporary reasons.Females have high rates of temporary deferrals due to anemia, indicating poor nutritional status.