Official Journal of the British Blood Transfusion Society Transfusion Medicine | ORIGINAL ARTICLE Blood donation in a large urban centre of southeast Brazil: a population-based study E. C. Moreno, 1 E. Bolina-Santos, 1 F. Mendes-Oliveira, 1 C. Miranda, 1 E. C. Sabino, 2 J. G. M. Cioi, 1 V. Camargos, 3 W. Caiafa, 3 C. C. Xavier, 4 F. A. Proietti 3,4 & A. B. de Freitas Carneiro-Proietti1 1,4 1 Research Division, Fundação Centro de Hematologia de Minas Gerais (HEMOMINAS), Belo Horizonte, Brazil, 2 Instituto de Medicina Tropical, Universidade de São Paulo (USP), São Paulo, Brazil, 3 Departamento de Medicina Preventiva e Social, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Brazil, and 4 Faculdade de Saúde e Ecologia Humana (FASEH), Vespasiano, Brazil Received 4 September 2015; accepted for publication 1 February 2016 SUMMARY Objectives: his study aimed to estimate the prevalence and characterise potential blood donors and non-donors in a well- populated and representative urban area of Southeastern Brazil. Background: Studies on blood donation usually evaluate indi- viduals who donate. Population-based studies may contribute to characterise those who never reach the blood centre, trying to increase the range of donors. Study Design and Methods: his was a secondary analysis of a population-based survey and a blood donor motivation study [Recipient Epidemiology and Donor Evaluation study (REDS II) International]. In a cross-sectional study 4047 individuals representing a metropolitan area answered the question ‘Have you ever donated blood at least once in your life?’. he proiles (‘Yes/No’) were compared. Non-donors from this reference pop- ulation were compared with donors of a local blood center, in a case control analysis. Results: A total of 69·0% of the population had never donated blood and was composed mostly of women, younger than 30 years old, people not contributing to social security and not subscribing to newspapers. In the case–control study, the like- lihood of donating was higher for: men, younger than 50 years old, longer time of education, married, participating in political campaigns and with a good self-perception of health. he factors associated with no blood donation were: self-reported mixed or white race/ethnicity, income higher than two minimum wages and belonging to trade union, political, religious/spiritual, or other social group and worse self perception of health. Conclusions: his population-based study allowed us to char- acterise a high proportion of people that never reaches the blood Correspondence: Elizabeth Castro Moreno, Research Division, Fundação Hemominas, Rua Grão Pará, 882, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais 30.140-341, Brazil. Tel.: +55(31)37687490; fax: +553132813288; e-mail: elizabethcmoreno@gmail.com centre. he results may be used to diversify the donor proile, creating strategies to target those least likely to donate blood, as women, white people and those with higher income and pur- chasing power. Key words: blood donation, case–control, donor health, donor motivation, donors, epidemiology, population-based study. According to the World Health Organization, the median blood donation rate in high-income countries is 36·8 donations per 1000 people, 11·7 donations per 1000 people in middle-income countries and 3·9 donations per 1000 in low-income countries. herefore, it is estimated that 1–3% of the population donate blood regularly, depending on the local needs and the complexity of medical procedures (World Health Organization, 2014). In Brazil, the rate of blood donation in 2006–2012 was on average 1·6%, ranging from 1·5 to 2·7%, according to region of the country. Despite eforts to increase recruitment of donors, the donation rates are lower than desirable. In Minas Gerais State, from a 1 947 9262 resident population in 2006, 7 756 554 (39·8%) were 18–65 years old, but only 3·9% of those volun- teered as blood donor candidates (Brazilian Ministry of Health, 2007; Brazilian Ministry of Health, 2014). To attract blood donors, it is necessary to understand the determinants of the donation process and characterise the non-donor population. Population-based studies are essen- tial for this purpose, but they are scarce and of high cost. In Brazil, blood donors have been characterised by information derived from blood centres, including evaluations of serologi- cal markers, risk factors to transfusion-transmitted infections (TTI), temporal analysis of blood donation and studies with prospective donors aimed at the understanding of motivation for donation (Carneiro-Proietti et al., 2010; Sabino et al., 2012; Goncalez et al., 2013a,b; Oliveira et al., 2013a,b). Even though it is important to identify the factors asso- ciated with non-donation, in order to develop strategies for recruiting new blood donors in campaigns, we found only two population-based studies on blood donation in Brazil, both © 2016 British Blood Transfusion Society doi: 10.1111/tme.12285