Screening potential blood donors at risk for human immunodeficiency virus

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Abstract
Even though all blood donated for transfusion is tested for the presence of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) antibodies, there exists a period of time after infection by the virus before these antibodies can be detected. Blood donated during this window period is capable of transmitting the virus. Therefore, the blood of persons who are at risk for acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) should not enter the blood supply. Over a period of 4 months, 6573 potential blood donors who entered fixed and mobile blood collection sites in two cities were exposed to alternative interventions the aim of which was to exclude persons at risk for AIDS. We compared the interventions to one another and to existing materials in terms of the numbers of at-risk persons who did or did not donate for transfusion, the amount of attention paid to the materials, the scores on a comprehension test, and the self- reports by the subjects of attitudes towards the various interventions. At-risk donors who were asked direct AIDS risk behavior questions in addition to the current health history questions were more likely to be screened out than those who underwent alternative health history interviews (p less than 0.01). Potential donors paid more attention to the experimental brochures than to the experimental video or current materials (p less than 0.05). Comprehension scores were better for the new brochure and the video than for the current brochure (p less than 0.05). Donors were not offended by the experimental interventions. Providing donors with new materials that increase attention and comprehension was not more effective than current materials in screening out potential donors at risk for HIV. Asking donors specific questions about participating in risk behaviors was significantly more effective in screening out at-risk donors than oral presentation of AIDS information.