Repeated Blood Donation Not Associated with Premature Death

A new study concludes that regular blood donors are not at a greater risk of a premature death than those who rarely donate blood, and may actually live longer.

Researchers at the University of Copenhagen (KU; Denmark), Karolinska University Hospital (Stockholm, Sweden), and other institutions scoured the Scandinavian Donation and Transfusion database (SCANDAT) to assess the association between annual number of donations in five-year windows and donor mortality by means of Poisson regression analysis. The analyses included adjustment for demographic characteristics and for an internal “healthy donor effect” that was estimated among elderly donors exempt from continued donation due to age criteria.

The results showed that of 1,182,495 donors, 15,401 died during 9,526,627 person-years of follow-up. Analyses adjusted only for demographic characteristics showed an inverse relationship between donation frequency and mortality, with an accumulating 18.6% reduction in mortality per additional annual donation. After additional adjustment for the internal healthy donor effect, the association was weakened, with each additional annual donation associated with a 7.5% decreased mortality risk. The study was published in the October 2015 issue of Transfusion.

“My response to the results is primarily of relief. Those who have donated a lot of blood live longer than those who have donated a little, and there is no evidence that it is dangerous to donate blood,” said lead author Prof. Henrik Ullum, MD, of the University of Copenhagen. “The study can be used to reassure blood donors and the blood banks. It says that it appears to be healthy and safe to donate. But we are still working to identify other effects that may impact upon your health.”

The Healthy Donor Effect was coined from the Healthy Worker Effect, originally used in occupational medicine. In 1885, a comparison between those who worked with those who did not suggested that workers were the healthiest; but this was simply because it was only the fit and healthy ones that could actually work. Similarly, only healthy people can donate blood, and scientists risk drawing the wrong conclusions by comparing donors with non-donors.

Related Links:
University of Copenhagen
Karolinska University Hospital