Distribution of ABO and Rh types in Voluntary Blood Donors in a Tertiary Care Center in a Southern District of Rajasthan

ABSTRACT

Background: Despite the long list of several other blood groups discovered, the knowledge and distribution of ABO and Rh-D blood group are essential for blood transfusion purposes, population genetic study and healthcare planning. Aims: This study is aimed to determine the distribution pattern of the ABO and Rh blood groups among blood donors in Southern Rajasthan and compare it with other data from similar studies within and outside India. The importance of the study lies in maintaining the blood bank inventory so that no patient dies due to the deficient supply of blood. Methods: It is a retrospective study carried out at blood bank, Ananta Institute of Medical Sciences and Research centre, Rajsamand, Rajasthan over a period of 2 years from January 1, 2016, to December 31, 2017. Blood group of the blood donors was determined by commercially available standard monoclonal antisera by test tube agglutination technique accompanied by reverse grouping. Results: Out of 1142 subjects, 1117 (97.81%) were male and 25 (2.19%) were female subjects. 279 (24.43%) donors were voluntary and 863 (75.56%) donors were replacement donors. On studying the ABO blood group system, the most frequent group was B (33.97%) followed by O (31.96%), A (22.06%), and AB (6.91%) in blood donors while in Rh system, 1084 (94.92%) donors were Rh positive and 58 (5.07%) were Rh negative. Conclusions: The knowledge of distribution of blood group is very important for blood banks and transfusion services which play an important role in the patient's health care. The study has a significant implication regarding the inventory management of blood bank and transfusion services and will also throw light on the reasons of deficiency of a particular group in a particular area so that deficient group donors may be encouraged to donate more frequently.