Blood group and gender-wise hemoglobin level among blood donors

ABSTRACT

Background: After collection of blood from a blood donor, it undergoes certain tests for its suitability for transfusion to a recipient. According to the Red Cross, women should have at least a hemoglobin level of 12.5 g/dL and men should have 13 g/dL. Aim and Objectives: The aim of the study was to observe the hemoglobin level of donated blood according to the sex and according to the blood groups – A, AB, B, and O. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional data audit was conducted with the data of males and females from a blood bank of a tertiary care hospital in India. A total of 4 years of data from 2013 to 2016 were analyzed. The hemoglobin levels were tested by the Shapiro–Wilk normality test. The distribution was not normal. Hence, data were presented as median (first quartile–third quartile) and tested by nonparametric tests – Mann–Whitney test and Kruskal–Wallis test. Results: Total data of 7026 blood donors (6658 [94.76%] males and 368 [5.24%] females) were analyzed in this study. The level is above the cutoff suggested by Red Cross. The overall hemoglobin level was 13.8 (13.2?14.1) g/dL. Male had higher hemoglobin 13.8 (13.2?14.2) g/dL than females 13 (13?13.5) g/dL, P < 0.0001. There was no difference in hemoglobin in A, AB, B, and O blood group in overall, males, and females. Conclusion: There were more male blood donors than female donors. Males have higher hemoglobin levels than females in all types of blood groups in the ABO system. There was no difference in hemoglobin concentration in different blood groups.