(P-BC-24) Do Military Veterans Donate More Than The General Population? One Blood Center’s Experience

Our blood collection facility is in a region with a high percentage of active duty and retired military personnel (16% of the local community either currently serves or is a Military Veteran). We wanted to determine whether veterans donated at the same frequency as the general population.

Study

Design/Methods:

A question regarding Military Veteran status was added to the donor history questionnaire in August of 2022. The question was for informational purposes only and would not lead to a deferral. For purposes of this study, only whole blood donations were queried and data was pulled from our center’s Blood Establishment Computer System (BECS).

Results/Findings:

Since implementation of the question, a total of 102,256 whole blood donations have been performed at our center over a period of 20 months.  Of those donations, 18,985 (18.6%) were donated by a Military Veteran. Table 1 shows the data stratified by veteran status and gender. During this period, male veterans donated an average of 1.99 times per year and female veterans donated an average of 1.84 times per year. Male civilians donated an average of 1.69 times per year and female civilians donated an average of 1.54 times per year. Chi Square analysis shows both male and female Military Veterans donated statistically significantly more frequently than their civilian counterparts.

Conclusions:

Military veterans provided 18.6% of the whole blood donations during our study period. The average frequency of donation of both male and female Military Veterans is higher than their civilian counterparts and provides important data on populations that can be successfully recruited for dedicated donation.