Blood Transfusion, Serum Iron and Total Iron Binding Capacity

in Blood Donors  Margono Soekarjo Hospital

Vitasari Indriani^1*, Wahyu Siswandari¹, Nor sri Inayati^2, Sarah Azahra Rosa Irawan³

¹Department of  Clinical Pathology,  Medical Faculty Universitas Jenderal Soedirman, Indonesia

²Department of  Biochemistry,  Medical Faculty Universitas Jenderal Soedirman, Indonesia

³Medical Student,  Medical Faculty Universitas Jenderal Soedirman, Indonesia

Corresponding Author: Vitasari Indriani (vitasari.indriani@unsoed.ac.id)

Background: Blood donation is frequently associated with iron deficiency, which is particularly concerning for blood donors. There is a scarcity of data on serum iron and Total Iron Binding Capacity (TIBC) levels in blood donors to inform donor recruitment policy and to screen iron deficiency.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigated association of blood donation and iron status among regular blood donors.

Methods: This cross-sectional study recruited 166 blood donors from Prof. Dr. Margono Soekarjo Regional Public Hospital from February 2019 to 2020. Venous blood samples were collected for estimation full blood count, Iron and Total Iron Binding Capacity to predict depleted iron stores in the participants.  Analyses were weighted and stratified by first time (n=55) and regular blood donors (n=111).

Results: Whereas 27.4% of the first blood donors and 12.3% of the regular blood donors had depleted serum iron (Fe <60 mg/dl and TIBC <200 mg/dl). While iron levels significantly increased with donor frequency, 49.5% of the blood donors were donated ≥3 units of whole blood in the past 1 years. Whereas 39.5% of participants had first time donor. Full blood count showed red cell indices weak correlation to predict iron deficiency (p=0,043). Serum Iron were lower in first time donors compare to regular donors (52.4 vs 59.6; p<0.001 and TIBC (186.7 vs 196.3; p<0.001).

Conclusion: Blood donation is associated with iron deficiency among first time and regular blood donors. These data need further development and implementation of blood donation practices to screen iron deficiency.

Keywords: blood donors, iron,  red cell indices, TIBC