Blood Donor Deferral Patterns at a Tertiary Care Hospital in Central India: A Retrospective Cross-Sectional Study.

Background and aim Blood donor deferral is an essential safeguard for donors and recipients, but it also reduces the immediately available donor pool. Because deferral patterns reflect local demographics, health conditions, and screening practices, center-level data are important for donor recruitment and retention planning. The aim of this study was to evaluate the frequency, pattern, and causes of blood donor deferral among prospective donation presentations at a tertiary care teaching hospital in Central India. Methods A retrospective, record-based cross-sectional study was conducted at the Blood Centre of Dr. Laxminarayan Pandey Government Medical College, Ratlam. A recorded donation presentation was defined as an age-eligible prospective donor entered after initial age screening into either the Main Register following successful donation or the Deferral Register following pre-donation deferral. Individuals outside the center's routine age criterion of 18-60 years were screened at the initial counter and were not entered into either register. All 11,354 recorded donation presentations between March 2024 and March 2026 were included. Hemoglobin was screened using the copper sulfate specific-gravity method, with a minimum eligibility threshold of 12.5 g/dL for both male and female donors; the same screening procedure was used in in-house and blood donation camp sessions. Deferral reasons were standardized into predefined categories and classified as temporary or permanent; where more than one reason was documented, all recorded reasons were retained in the reason-specific analysis. Associations of sex, age group, and study period with deferral were assessed using Pearson's chi-square test or Fisher's exact test, as appropriate. Results Of 11,354 recorded donation presentations, 216 (1.9%; 95% CI, 1.7-2.2%) resulted in deferral. There were 10,219 male presentations (90.0%) and 1,135 female presentations (10.0%). Deferral rates did not differ significantly between male (188/10,219, 1.8%) and female (28/1,135, 2.5%) presentations (p = 0.142). Most deferrals were temporary (193/216, 89.4%), while 23/216 (10.6%) were permanent. Self-reported alcohol intake within the preceding 72 hours (37/193, 19.2%) and low hemoglobin (27/193, 14.0%) were the leading temporary causes, while cardiovascular disease was the most frequent permanent cause (7/23). Deferral rates were 73/3,143 (2.3%) in March-December 2024, 70/6,233 (1.1%) in January-December 2025, and 73/1,978 (3.7%) in January-March 2026 (χ²(2) = 57.15, p < 0.001). Conclusions Among recorded donor presentations after initial age screening, 216/11,354 (1.9%) resulted in deferral, and most deferrals were temporary. Recent alcohol intake and low hemoglobin were the most frequent temporary causes and represent practical targets for pre-donation guidance, appropriate clinical evaluation when indicated, and structured reentry of temporarily deferred donors.