Evaluating the effect of donor anxiety levels and lifestyle characteristics on the activation of platelet concentrates

BACKGROUND: Smoking, alcohol use, performing regular physical exercise, dietary habits, and anxiety level may cause platelet activation. We aimed to evaluate the anxiety levels, smoking status, alcohol intake, and sportive habits of donors, and determine their impact on the quality of apheresis-platelets. METHODS: State and Transient Anxiety Inventory (STAI) was used to determine the level of donors' anxiety. STAI has two subscales: S-anxiety scale (STAI-I) and T-anxiety scale (STAI-II), each comprising 20 questions rated on a 4-point Likert scale. Data on smoking, alcohol consumption, and performing regular physical exercise were obtained from a questionnaire filled out before donation. Flow cytometric analysis was used to quantify activated platelets. RESULTS: The STAI-I level of 86 participants was normal, while that of 12 was higher. No significant difference was found in the active platelet absolute count [1.8×10(11) (2.7) and 1.4×10(11) (1.3), respectively; P=0.665] between donors with normal STAI-I levels and those with higher STAI-I levels. Of 98 donors, 42 had normal STAI-II levels, while 56 had higher STAI-II levels. No significant difference was found in the active platelet absolute count [2.3×10(11) (3.1) and 1.5×10(11) (2.3), respectively; P=0.224] between donors with normal STAI-II levels and those with higher STAI-II levels. Platelet counts of individuals who perform regular physical exercise were significantly higher than those of individuals who did not perform regular physical exercise (6.3±1.4×10(11) vs. 5.5±1.4×10(11)). CONCLUSION: The quality of apheresis platelets is not affected by anxiety levels and lifestyle characteristics of blood donors. There is no need to organize apheresis blood donor pool considering with these subjects.