SynthesisPloS one2015
Is having sex with other men a risk factor for transfusion-transmissible infections in male blood donors in Western countries? A systematic review.
Synthesis in PloS one, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 10 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
10 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 30 citations in OpenAlex.
- Seroprevalence of human immunodeficiency virus in African blood donors: a systematic review and meta-analysis.EBioMedicine · 2024Pooled it
- An instrument of screening criteria to assess individualized high-risk sexual behavior to be applied in the Brazilian population: translation and cross-cultural adaptation.Hematology, transfusion and cell therapy · 2024Article
- Ease restrictions on U.S. blood donations.Science (New York, N.Y.) · 2020Article
- Observational
- Importance of information provision in the acceptance of blood donation criteria by the general public in Belgium.Blood transfusion = Trasfusione del sangue · 2018Article
- What is the evidence for the change in the blood -donation deferral period for high-risk groups and does it go far enough?Clinical medicine (London, England) · 2018Review
- The ban on blood donation on men who have sex with men: time to rethink and reassess an outdated policy.The Pan African medical journal · 2017Article
- Blood donation deferral policies among men who have sex with men in Brazil.Hematology, transfusion and cell therapyArticle
- Blood Donation, Sexual Practices, and Self-Perceived Risk for HIV in the United States Among Young Adult Men Who Have Sex With Men.Public health reports (Washington, D.C. : 1974)Article
- Should men who have ever had sex with men be allowed to donate blood in Brazil?Hematology, transfusion and cell therapyArticle
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundAlthough increased prevalence of transfusion transmissible infections (TTI) among "men who have sex with men" (MSM) has been well documented, the exclusion of MSM as blood donors is contested. The aim of this systematic review is to find studies that describe the risk of TTI in MSM blood donors.
methodsWe searched MEDLINE, Embase, The Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, Cinahl, and Web of Science, and used GRADE for determining evidence quality. We included studies comparing MSM and non-MSM blood donors (or people eligible to give blood), living in areas most relevant for our Blood Service.
resultsOut of 18 987 articles, 14 observational studies were included. Two studies directly compared MSM with non-MSM donors showing that MSM donors have a statistically significant higher risk of HIV-1 infections. In one of these studies it was shown that this was related to recent (< 12 months) MSM contact. In two additional studies no evidence was shown in favour of a certain deferral period for MSM. Ten studies, applying permanent deferral for MSM, compared infected versus non-infected donors. One study found that MSM is a statistically significant risk factor for HIV-1 infection in blood donors. For other TTI such as HBV or HCV, an increased risk of infection could not be demonstrated, because the precision of the results was affected by the low numbers of donors with MSM as risk factor, or because of risk of bias in the included studies. All studies included low level evidence, because of risk of bias and imprecision of the results.
conclusionsHigh-quality studies investigating the risk of TTI in MSM who donate blood are scarce. The available evidence suggests a link between MSM blood donors and HIV-1 infection, but is too limited to be able to unambiguously/clearly recommend a certain deferral policy.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.