NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Complication rates after blood donation are higher among 16- and 17-year-old blood donors than among older blood donors, according to a report in this week's Journal of the American Medical Association.
Although the most common complications -- fainting and bruising -- are "medically inconsequential," the investigators note, the incidence of potentially serious injuries related to fainting is also highest in this age group.
Blood centers are becoming increasingly reliant on young donors to maintain an adequate blood supply, Dr. Anne F. Eder, at the American Red Cross National Headquarters in Washington, DC, and her associates explain. Approximately 8 percent of units currently collected come from 16- and 17-year-olds. Some data suggest that complications from blood donation are highest among young donors.
To quantify adverse reactions to blood donation by age group, Eder's team analyzed records from nine regional American Red Cross blood centers during 2006, comprising more than 1.5 million blood donations.
Complications were recorded in close to 11 percent of donations among 16- and 17-year-olds, roughly 8 percent in 18- and 19-year-olds, and nearly 3 percent in adults age 20 years and older, the researchers found.
Eighty-six fainting-related injuries -- almost half of all injuries -- occurred in minors, they report, and many of these injuries were severe enough to require outside medical care. These included concussion, laceration requiring stitches, dental injuries, and broken jaw.
Minors were 2.5 times as likely to be injured as 18- to 19-year olds and 14 times as likely as older individuals.
The records also showed that 16-year-old donors who experienced even a minor complication were 60 percent less likely to donate blood again within the next year than their same-age peers who did not have any complication from donating blood.
Consequently, any negative experience "increases the possibility that a short-term yield in donations incurs the ultimate expense of deterring future blood donation by young donors," Eder and her colleagues maintain.
"Although zero risk may not be attainable even in adults," they conclude, "the rate of complications in minors calls for on-going attention to a sustained operational effort that is continually focused on donation safety."
They also think these data on "common and infrequent complications of blood donation should be considered when age limits are deliberated by state authorities."
SOURCE: Journal of the American Medical Association, May 21, 2008.
