Failure of self-disclosure of deferrable risk behaviors associated with transfusion-transmissible infections in blood donors

BACKGROUND: To date, most studies on deferral of blood donors have focused on men who have sex with men (MSM) and/or injecting drug users. Few have examined deferrable risk behaviors relating to transfusion-transmissible infections (TTIs) in general. This study aimed to examine the prevalence of, and factors associated with, nondisclosure of TTI-related risk behaviors in donors. STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: Chinese-speaking donors who had just given blood in Hong Kong were invited to self-complete an anonymous questionnaire. Practices of one or more of seven deferrable risk behaviors associated with TTI were inquired. Factors associated with noncompliance with self-disclosure were evaluated by logistic regression. RESULTS: Over a 4-week study period in 2012, a total of 1143 donors were recruited. Overall, 0.2% gave a history of drug injection, 1.7% had had sex with sex worker(s), and 0.3% had had sex with a human immunodeficiency virus–infected partner, while none had been paid for sex. Some 1.5% of male donors reported having same-sex behaviors. Factors associated with noncompliance were male gender (odds ratio [OR] 31.1; 95% confidence interval [CI], 3.7-263.6), having multiple sex partners (OR, 89.7; 95% CI, 28.7-279.9), and previous history of temporary deferral (OR, 11.4; 95% CI, 2.5-53.3). If suspected noncompliance was included, the overall prevalence of nondisclosure of deferrable behaviors could be high at 6.5%. CONCLUSION: Albeit uncommon, some donors fail to provide accurate answers to predonation screening questions and are not deferred appropriately. There is room for improvement to make deferral policy acceptable and understandable, so as to minimize the risk of TTI. Efforts are also needed to tackle the paucity of data on noncompliance of non-MSM donors.