Search

Background: Fear of blood donation is implicated in vasovagal reactions, donor recruitment, and retention. This study examined the extent to which fear among donors is associated with various donor outcomes in an Australian sample, and whether fear can be addressed on-site to reduce adverse reactions and improve the donation experience., Study Design and Methods: Six hundred and sixty-four donors (age M = 33.4, SD = 12.7; 55% female) participated in a two-center, pragmatic, parallel group, individually randomized controlled trial. Following donor registration and consent, whole-blood (n = 539) and plasma (n = 125) donors were assigned to one of four Conditions: control; fear assessment; fear assessment + brochure; fear assessment + brochure + tailored conversation focused on any self-reported fear and coping strategies. Post-donation questionnaires assessed the donors' experience including positive support, donor self-efficacy, anxiety, fear, venipuncture pain, and vasovagal reactions., Results: Fear among donors predicted higher venipuncture pain, post-donation anxiety, and vasovagal reactions and remained significant after controlling for other established predictors (i.e., total estimated blood volume, age, sex, and donation experience). Mediational analyses showed that exposure to brochures (with or without the tailored conversation) was associated with less pain, with this effect mediated by donor perceptions of more positive support. Venipuncture pain was also associated with vasovagal reactions, reduced likelihood of return within 6 months, and less satisfaction with the donation experience., Conclusion: The current results underline the importance of interventions to address fear among both whole-blood and plasma donors to secure the safety and well-being of donors and the blood supply., (© 2021 AABB.)

Background: Blood donor recruitment remains an important worldwide challenge due to changes in population demographics and shifts in the demand for blood. Various cognitive models help predict donation intention, although the importance of affective deterrents has become increasingly evident. This study aimed to identify fears that predict donation intention, to explore their relative importance, and to determine if self-efficacy and attitude mediate this relationship, thus providing possible targets for intervention., Study Design and Methods: A total of 347 individuals (269 nondonors and 78 donors) living in Québec responded to questionnaires assessing medical fears, psychosocial factors related to donation intention including the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) constructs, anticipated regret, and facilitating factors (i.e., time commitment and rewards). To examine the relative importance of these factors in the context of blood donation, the same questions were also asked about other medical activities that involve salient needle stimuli: flu vaccinations and dental examinations., Results: Medical fears, especially blood-related fears, were significantly associated with donation intention. Bootstrapping tests confirmed that this relation was mediated by attitude and self-efficacy. Underlining the importance of medical fears in the blood donation context, these fears were not associated with attitudes and intentions for dental examinations or flu vaccinations., Conclusion: These results suggest that medical fears, especially blood-related fears, play a key role in predicting donation attitudes and intentions. Mediational pathways provide support for interventions to improve donation intentions by addressing specific fears while also improving a donor's belief in his or her ability to manage donation-related fears., (© 2019 AABB.)

Background and Objectives: The vasovagal response demonstrates a unique form of stress response, common in medical settings yet provoked by a variety of blood-injury-injection stimuli. This study aimed to better understand the psychophysiological mechanisms of the vasovagal response.., Methods: 16 undergraduates with and 42 without a self-reported history of fainting watched five 3-5 min videos with different emotional content. One documentary clip (Neutral condition) described a campus environmental project while another (Blood/Injury) depicted portions of an open heart surgery. Three additional clips were also used, including Medical, Threat, and Contamination stimuli. Vasovagal symptoms and physiological variables were assessed during each video., Results: As predicted, while the disgust-related stimuli (Blood/Injury, Medical, Contamination) were associated with generally lower heart rate, the Blood/Injury video produced the highest symptoms and the only significant difference between previous fainters and non-fainters. The physiological measures also revealed that participants with a fainting history experienced higher stroke volume and lower systolic blood pressure throughout, as well as several main effects of video., Limitations: An additional decrease in systolic blood pressure and respiration produced by watching the Blood/Injury video may have been sufficient to trigger symptoms in some, though results also suggest that systemic variables do not entirely explain susceptibility to symptoms. More careful evaluation of regional blood flow may be required., Conclusions: Participants who had previously experienced strong vasovagal responses displayed what appeared to be an anticipatory response to the Blood/Injury video. Finally, disgust stimuli may reduce heart rate but do not appear to contribute to vasovagal symptoms., (Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

The vasovagal response (VVR) is a common medical problem, complicating and deterring people from various procedures. It is an unusual stress response given the widespread decreases in physiological activity. Nevertheless, VVR involves processes similar to those observed during episodes of strong emotions and pain. We hypothesized that heightened perceived control would reduce symptoms of VVR. Eighty-two young adults were randomly assigned to perceived control or no perceived control conditions during exposure to a stimulus video of a mitral valve surgery, known to trigger VVR in non-medical personnel. Perceived control was manipulated by allowing some participants to specify a break time, though all received equivalent breaks. Outcomes included subjective symptoms of VVR, anxiety, blood pressure, heart rate, and other measures derived from impedance cardiography. Compared to participants with perceived control, participants with no perceived control reported significantly more vasovagal symptoms and anxiety, and experienced lower stroke volume, cardiac output, and diastolic blood pressure. Participants who were more fearful of blood were more likely to benefit from perceived control in several measures. Perceived control appears to reduce vasovagal symptoms. Results are discussed in terms of cognition and emotion in VVR., (Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

A recent theory proposes that emotional fainting developed from an earlier adaptive characteristic, fainting in response to hemorrhage. Despite potential loss of consciousness, a dramatic decrease in blood pressure improves chances of survival in animals with severe wounds by reducing blood loss and facilitating clotting. Humans may have developed the characteristic of emotional fainting as a response to anticipated blood loss. This idea suggests that people with stronger fears of blood should be especially susceptible to fainting and milder vasovagal symptoms such as dizziness and lightheadedness. Two samples of young adult blood donors (N = 276 and 663) who completed the Medical Fears Survey (MFS) were studied. Items from the MFS related to fears of blood, needles, and mutilation were used to predict self-reported dizziness and nurse-initiated treatment for vasovagal reactions. In both samples, fears of experiencing or seeing blood loss were more closely associated with both subjective and objective measures of vasovagal reactions, despite the fact that other fears (e.g., fears related to needles) were more common overall. Better understanding of the mechanisms of vasovagal reactions has both theoretical and clinical implications, such as improving means of coping with invasive medical procedures.

Background and objectives: The blood donation environment includes a variety of disgust‐related stimuli that may influence attitudes among new and prospective donors. To explore the causal role of disgust in the context of attitudes towards blood donation, we experimentally induced feelings of disgust (vs. fear, moral elevation or control). We hypothesized that for people who are generally sensitive to their bodily sensations, disgust would lead to more negative implicit attitudes towards blood donation than other emotions. Materials and methods: A total of 123 participants completed a questionnaire package including private body consciousness, disgust, altruism and social desirability. Next, participants watched one of four videos with emotional content: a video segment depicting a filthy toilet (disgust), a man chasing a woman and child wielding an axe (fear), a man whose life was positively changed by a mentor (moral elevation) or a nature documentary (control). After the video, participants completed a Single‐Target Implicit Association Test (ST‐IAT) and questions regarding explicit attitudes towards blood donation. Results: As predicted, the disgust video resulted in lower implicit attitudes towards blood donation for participants high in private body consciousness. Disgust sensitivity predicted lower donation interest, but not implicit attitudes or explicit intention. There was no effect of emotion on explicit attitudes. Conclusion: Automatic processes should be considered in the development of interventions aimed at promoting prosocial and health behaviours. Management of disgust‐related stimuli in donation centres and recruitment campaigns might improve attitudes towards blood donation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aimed to evaluate the relative contribution of psychosocial variables to donation behavior in a sample of primary healthcare users in a Brazilian municipality. Donor recruitment and retention continue to pose significant challenges to blood collection services worldwide and is especially important among low and middle income countries (LMICs), challenged with higher rates of stigma and low public awareness about donation. A cross-sectional study with randomized stratified sampling of 1055 primary healthcare users was conducted across 12 healthcare facilities in Ribeirão Preto, state of São Paulo. Participants completed measures assessing psychosocial variables, including religiosity, knowledge regarding blood donation process, overall quality of life, blood donation of peers, sociodemographic variables, and the fear of blood, injections, and fainting. The associations between psychosocial variables and donation behaviour was examined using structural equation modelling. Blood donation was more frequent in males and among individuals with higher socioeconomic and educational levels. The structural model indicated associations between blood donation behaviour and fear, knowledge, age, sex, socioeconomic status, and educational level. Fear of blood, injections and vasovagal reactions, and a lack of knowledge of the donation process were revealed as important barriers to the decision to donate blood. In addition, there is evidence that considering the population of primary healthcare users, the women, the youngers, and those with lower socioeconomic status and lower educational level are less likely to donate blood. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]