ABSTRACT
Background: Blood donors belong to a heterogeneous group of people in society, differing in their demographic characteristics and the psychological factors that motivate their behavior. It is important to analyze the various blood donor characteristics in order to manage blood donor programmes. Blood safety and blood supply are profoundly impacted by method of recruitment, specific health history taking and blood screening.Objective: The present study was conducted to determine the role of various demographic factors lie age, sex and occupation on the seroprevalence of transfusion transmitted infections (TTIs) among the blood donors at a tertiary care hospital in Delhi over a period of 4 years. Methods: A 4 year retrospective study was conducted at the blood bank of a tertiary care hospital. All data were collected from blood bank records and included records of 1347 voluntary and 7451 replacement donors from January 2014 to December 2017. Screening of blood units was done by enzyme-linked immune sorbent assay (ELISA) method for Human Immune Deficiency Virus (HIV), and hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV). Syphilis was tested by rapid plasma resin (RPR) card test. Malaria was tested by antigen rapid diagnostic test. Any sample found reactive was retested for confirmation. Results: Total 8798 blood donor’s samples were analyzed. 4.27% were female and 95.73% were male. Among the 8798 blood donors, 128 blood donors were positive, prevalence of TTIs was at 1.45 %. The overall positivity rates of anti-HIV, HBsAg, anti-HCV, anti-TP and MP were 0.19%, 0.80%, 0.40%, 0.06 % and 0.01% respectively. The prevalence of TTIs was 1.47% for male and 1.06 % for female in the donation population, the prevalence of TTI positive donations was highest in age group of 51-60 years. Regarding occupation, farmers showed the highest incidence (3.36%) of TTIs while businessmen (1.16%) ranked as the bottom. Conclusion: Overall prevalence of TTI is more in voluntary blood donors as compared to replacement donors. Women are safer donors as compared to males. The prevalence of TTI positive donations was highest in age group of 51-60 years. Farmers showed the highest incidence (3.36%) of TTIs while businessmen (1.16%) ranked as the bottom