Safe Blood Donation from Donors Using Antihypertensive Medication. A Multi-Center Retrospective Quality Study from South-East Norway

Abstract

Purpose

In Norway, blood donors using antihypertensive medication were deferred until 2015. Following revision of the national directive, these donors could be allowed, providing stable dose for at least 3 months, adequate blood pressure control and no adverse effects caused by the therapy. The new practice was evaluated by a quality study where the major aim was to establish whether donations from blood donors on antihypertensive medication pose a risk to the donor. The risk was assessed by counting the number and categorizing the adverse events related to blood donation. In addition, the quantitative effect of including these donors was calculated.

Subjects and Methods

In this retrospective quality study, blood donors on antihypertensive therapy were recruited from four different blood centers to fill out a questionnaire. A total of 265 donors answered questions regarding their health status, type of medication used, and adverse events connected to blood donation both before and after starting the therapy.

Results

No severe adverse events were observed in donors on antihypertensive medications. The amount of mild adverse events, as exhibited by only 7 persons (0.46%) in this donor population, was the same as for donors without hypertensive treatment.

Conclusion

Blood donation from persons on antihypertensive therapy poses no extra risk of severe adverse events, given the use of screening criteria to identify and bleed only low-risk donors.

Keywords:

• donor safety
• hemovigilance
• hypertension
• deferral

Acknowledgments

The authors thank all the blood donors who contributed, as well as the personnel in the blood centers for assistance in recruiting and handling the donors.

Disclosure

The authors report no conflicts of interest in this work.