(P-BC-5)  Donors’ Views on the Use of Donor Genetic Information in Blood Donation

As gene sequencing becomes more widely available and less expensive, blood operators are exploring the potential to expand the use of these techniques in testing donors’ blood. The current goal is to provide more precise and comprehensive blood-type matching between donors and recipients and therefore improve patient outcomes. Advancements in genomic technologies will enable blood operators to sequence the blood group genes of many more donors and potentially expand the use of genetic information. Given this, it is necessary to understand donors’ views on the use of their genetic information to ensure their views inform current and any potential expansion of genetic testing applications.

Study

Design/Methods:

An exploratory qualitative study was conducted with 41 whole blood donors. Donors were recruited through the Canadian Blood Services’ donor database and interviews conducted from March-May 2024. Inclusion criteria were donation within the last 12 months and comfortable with English. Recruitment emails were sent to 2000 randomly selected donors who met inclusion criteria. Interested donors completed a pre-screening questionnaire (PSQ) to confirm eligibility and obtain sociodemographic details. From 212 respondents who completed the PSQ, purposive and maximum diversity sampling was applied to select the study sample. Semi-structured interviews (by Zoom or telephone) explored a range of topics including their understanding of genetics, and their views on four scenarios describing current and potential future uses of genetic information. Interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed, and thematic analysis completed.

Results/Findings:

Preliminary results from 34 completed interviews show that participants had limited knowledge of genetics and most supported the uses of genetic information provided in the scenarios. They implicitly or explicitly expressed trust in the blood operator and considered the uses presented to be consistent with what they viewed as the work of blood operators and/or their own motivations for donating. Participants’ concerns included conducting genetic tests without donors’ knowledge, data storage and privacy, data being sold for commercial purposes, and potential future uses that are yet unknown. While expressing support for the different uses of genetic information, most participants spoke about the need for donor consent.

Conclusions: Results suggest that Canadian blood donors are supportive of current and some potential future uses of their genetic information. A rigorous informed consent process is key for donors. to. In designing this informed consent process blood operators will need to be mindful of donors’ relatively limited knowledge of genetics and the continuous evolution of genetic science.