ABSTRACT
ObjectiveCorrect identification of the blood type is an important prerequisite for ensuring the safety of clinical blood transfusion. This study was to explore the causes of blood type discrepancy of blood donors between preliminary screening and recheck and to propose some countermeasures for the reduction of errors.MethodsThis retrospective study included 114 398 cases of blood donation from 2009 to 2015. The blood types of the donors were preliminarily screened with the paper board and rechecked after blood collection. We investigated the causes and number of errors in preliminary blood type screening and analyzed the failure rates in the high-temperature months (July, August and September), low-temperature months (December, January and February), and moderate-temperature months (the other six months).ResultsPreliminary blood type screening errors occurred in 164 of the cases, 157 (95.73%) in blood group identification, mainly misidentification of type B antigen (43.95%) and type A antigen (23.5%). The rate of blood group identification errors was significantly higher in the high-temperature than in the low- and moderate-temperature months (0.19% vs 0.12% and 0.12%, P<0.05).ConclusionMisidentification of types B and A antigens and high-temperature environment are the main causes of the errors in preliminary blood type screening for blood donors.