ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION: Predonation interview accounts for a major step in transfusion safety. In France, it must be performed by a physician, following a methodical questioning and a standardized questionnaire. Faced with this evolution, the value of a strictly medical expertise has been progressively losing importance. In many countries, blood donor selection is being organized by non medical trained staff (Québec, Switzerland, e.g.). A decree of April 30, 2006 allowed the Établissement français du sang to experiment a predonation interview by an authorized paramedical staff in the form of a two-phase prospective multicenter study over a year. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Phase I "experimental situation": six physician/nurse teams among three blood transfusion centres interviewed 1940 blood-donation candidates, including 253 new donors (13% out of total). Phase 2 "observational study": 3222 blood-donation candidates were interviewed either by a physician or a nurse. RESULTS: In phase I, nurses were able to make a decision without the physician's help in 1921 cases. A total of 1628 candidates were decided capable of donating blood both by physicians and nurses, 174 donors were rejected both by physicians and nurses and 69 were rejected either by physicians or nurses. In phase 2, out of 3222 blood-donation candidates, an average of 12.1% were rejected by nurses and 10% by physicians. CONCLUSION: The study reported a weaker variability among nurses. Results show that nurses were able to perform predonation interviews with high reliability, without additional risk. The reproducibility of their answers in the field of recipient-risk evaluation was better than the physicians.
