Gender differences in giving blood: a review of the literature

Background An overview of Europe in blood donors shows that the distribution of men and women donors is similar many countries with Italy being an exception in that women account tot only 30% of donors Gender medicine is a key issue in this context e en though gender studies are very limited in the transfusion held whether considered broadly or with specific regards to the selection management and retention of donors It therefore seemed import lilt to comp tie the presence of women among blood donors in different Europe in countries and examine the roles that gentler is reported to play in the donation of blood in order to identify possible implications for communication with and management of the donor Methods To determine the pi portion of women among donors in European countries data were collected from annual reports or documents available on the websites of national associations furthermore all papers related to giving blood published in the five main journals in the sector (Transfusion Vox Sanguinis transfusion and Apheresis Science Transfusion Medicine Blood Transfusion were considered about 80 public mons were selected and the gender valuable was examined Results The published studies showed that gentle, plays key roles in the motivation to give blood (women being more altruistic men being more individualistic) and in adverse reactions which was a particularly critical problem leading to fewer women become regular donors A few aspects specific to the management of donors in Italy also emerged Discussion Gender seems to play an important role in the aspects studied and dos therefore merit further consideration in relation to strategies to recruit donors and the management of critical events during donation