Facilitating donor compliance with strategies to prevent vasovagal reactions: comparison of web‐based and in‐center approaches

Abstract

Providing on-site instructions is the most effective method to increase donor compliance to VVR prevention techniques.

Does using applied muscle tension at strategic time points during donation reduce phlebotomist‐ and donor‐reported vasovagal reaction rates? A three‐armed randomized controlled trial

“…In our trial, new female donors reported a mean BDRI score of 1.9 in our standard donation control group and a mean BDRI score of 1.5 in our time points intervention group. The low BDRI scores observed in the current study are consistent with those observed in prior work in the Australian setting . Therefore, a significant finding in phlebotomist‐registered reactions as opposed to the BDRI score is clinically more relevant to determine the effect of AMT in reducing VVRs in the Australian context.…”

“…In the AMT exercise instructions, donors were asked to engage in repeated 5‐second intervals of lower‐body isometric muscle tension (legs and abdomen) while crossing their legs and maintaining steady breathing . The instructions were given verbally by the onsite research nurse together with an A6‐sized instruction card similar to that deployed in our previous study . Further, the attending phlebotomist was instructed by the research nurse to provide prompts to the donor to use AMT during their donation to increase intervention adherence.…”

“…Specifically, this trial assessed whether asking donors to perform AMT only at VVR high‐risk time points during the donation would yield greater compliance with instructions and yield similar results in terms of VVR reactions to asking donors to use AMT during the entire donation. Consistent with our previous work and the trial by Morand and colleagues, the attending phlebotomist was asked to prompt all donors to use AMT to improve rates of donor compliance. The trial was undertaken with the aim of informing a recommendation as to the appropriateness of a national rollout of AMT for all Australian blood donors.…”

Vasovagal reaction in blood donors: prediction and its impact on donor return

“…Caffeine intake , mental distraction , application of muscular tension during blood collection or the combination of water ingestion and applied muscle tension also attain some favourable results. It has also been shown that, by provision of on‐site instructions, donor compliance to the prevention techniques can be further enhanced .…”

Reduced risk of vasovagal reactions in Australian whole blood donors after national implementation of applied muscle tension and water loading

“…To facilitate donor adherence, each whole blood donor is provided with an A6‐sized instruction card, which provides written instructions on both strategies with illustrations depicting a glass of water and the muscle tensing exercises. This instruction card in combination with verbal instructions has previously been shown to be effective in improving donor adherence (available from the first author upon request) …”