Publication:

Prevalence of anemia in blood donors: a retrospective study in rural tertiary care centre (Chamba, Himachal Pradesh, India)

Background In India, a large majority of blood donors are deferred due to anemia. Anemia is a temporary cause of deferral which can be easily treated. Deferrals due to anemia can be easily identified in blood bank and can be treated and managed effectively.

Methods A retrospective study was carried out in Department of Blood Bank of Pt. Jawahar Lal Nehru Govt. Medical College, Chamba (H.P) over a time period of one year from 1st Jan 2017 to 31st Dec 2017.

Results We observed that the total number of deferrals was 90 out of all blood donors forming 9%. Out of all deferrals, those due to anemia were 23 (25.5%). Prevalence of anemia in female donors is much higher, constituting 26.31% and anemia in male donors in our study is lower forming 1.8%.

Conclusions Our study concluded that percentage of anemia is much higher in females than males. Educating and counseling females about prevention and treatment of anemia would help in lowering the percentage of anemia in females in our community.