Blood Donation Patterns in The Light of COVID-19 Pandemic Distress: A Cross-Sectional Study From Syria

Abstract

Introduction Syria has suffered for nine years of war and there were huge demands for blood during and after the lockdown from Coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID-19).Methods Online questionnaires were distributed to Social Media groups after two weeks of the 10-week full lockdown to determine blood donation patterns. They also included stress, anger, and COVID-19 distress questions.Results The study included 1423 participants, 899 (63.2%) of which were females. Around 48.5% have donated blood, of which 33.3% donated only once in their lifetime. Not having a good reason to donate blood was the main declared reason for not donating, and obtaining a document was the main reason for donating in (64.8%) of participants who had donated blood. Stress, anger, and being distressed to get infected did not have a crucial effect on blood donation, and its patterns. Losing someone close and being endangered from war were associated with more frequent blood donation in contrast to being distressed from war which was more associated with distress from getting infected.Conclusion Distress from COVID-19 was not the main reason for not donating blood. Spreading the culture of volunteer blood donating is crucial as COVID-19 exposure with blood donation can be avoided.

Blood donation during COVID-19 lockdown and its association with anger and stress: A cross-sectional study from Syria

“…Although blood donation demands during the COVID-19 lockdowns might be lower, the gap between demand and donation widened worldwide (Stanworth et al, 2020 ). Globally, including in Syria, the number of blood donors substantially decreased which put a strain on local blood supplies (Cai et al, 2020 ; Kakaje et al, 2020 ). The World Health Organization (WHO) had declared an increasing gap in access to blood between high- and low-income countries.…”

“…Thus, efficient inventory management with a full evaluation of the demands is necessary (Cai et al, 2020 ). This should be especially important in Syria where it is very hard to obtain blood products (Kakaje et al, 2020 ).…”

“…The reduced ability to earn and provide food was among the major concerns, despite not having a high number of corona cases (Kakaje et al, 2021c ). The 10-week full lockdown that was enforced significantly lowered the blood donation numbers, causing huge demands for blood (Kakaje et al, 2020 ).…”

“…In contrast, around 75% of the blood transfusions were performed for patients aged 60 years or older in high-income countries (World Health Organisation, 2020 ). In Syria, considered one of the low-income countries, most blood transfusions were performed in young children and pregnant women (Kakaje et al, 2020 ). Although Syria has a relatively young population, meaning there is a larger population able to donate blood, unfortunately, this was not the case.…”

“…These certificates also have an expiry date, meaning people might need to donate more than once over the years. However, this method only aggravated the shortage of blood supply during the COVID-19 lockdowns as people had to stay at home and did not require any documents as most institutions were closed anyway (Kakaje et al, 2020 ).…”