Haemoglobin Screening Methods in Blood Donors- Where Do We Stand Now?

摘要

Introduction: Haemoglobin screening is one of the most important screening tests done for blood donors in order to prevent blood collection from an anaemic donor and ensure an optimum quality of blood product for the recipients. Therefore, it is essential, that an accurate and reliable method for haemoglobin determination among the whole blood donors is selected and established. Aim: To assess the utility and efficacy of the haemoglobin screening methods in blood donors in our institutional setting and to find out the best method taking into account time, cost effectiveness and accuracy of results. Materials and Methods: This is a single centre-based analytical cross-sectional study of pre-donation screening for whole blood donors in the blood bank of a tertiary care teaching hospital at Durgapur, West Bengal, India. A total of 100 consenting potential donors were screened according to the criteria laid down by Drugs and Cosmetic Act of India, 1940. Blood sample which is routinely collected from the blood donors for screening purpose was tested for haemoglobin estimation using three different screening methods viz., Copper Sulphate method, HemoCue method and Automated Haematology Analyser. The results were analysed using statistical formulae to obtain the specificity, sensitivity, Positive Predictive Value (PPV), Negative Predictive Value (NPV) and accuracy. Results: The accuracy of HemoCue (97%) was found to be higher than the Copper Sulphate method (92%). Comparing the cost per test, Copper Sulphate method was the most affordable with 5 INR/test, HemoCue and Automated Haematology Cell Analyser at 25 INR/test each. Taking into account the time taken by the methods, we found that HemoCue took the least time for screening a blood sample, followed by the Copper Sulphate method. Conclusion: Taking into account the efficacy, utility, time taken and cost effectiveness, HemoCue was found to be an appropriate screening method for pre-donation estimation of haemoglobin content in majority of blood donation setups. However, in economically poor areas, Copper Sulphate method can be used but HemoCue method should be employed for those who fail the former method, so as to avoid unnecessary deferrals.