Distribution of blood groups and demographic characteristics of blood donors admitted to Trabzon Kizilay blood center

Objectives: Having correct information about the distribution of blood groups in a region will not only be beneficial for needs of individuals and blood bank operations, but will also provide scientific contribution. In the literature, there is no study examining the ABO and Rh blood groups and demographic characteristics of blood donors in Trabzon. In this study, it was aimed to analyze the distribution of ABO and Rh blood groups of blood donors who applied to the Trabzon Red Crescent Blood Center and to determine their demographic characteristics and to contribute to the database and donor acquisition programs. Material and Methods: The research was done retrospectively. The population of the research is 105.513 healthy donors who donated blood to the Turkish Red Crescent Regional Blood Center between January 1, 2016 and September 2019. Blood Donor Registration Form was used to collect the data. Results were analysied with SPSS program (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences, version 23) using Chi-square test, p<0,05 was considered to be statistically significant. Results: When blood group distributions were examined in our study, it was determined that 44.776 people (42.44%) had A blood group, 44.342 people (42.02%) O blood group, 11.207 people (10.63%) B blood group, 5.006 people (4.75%) had AB blood group and the number of Rh + in each blood group was higher than Rh- and the frequency of blood group was A> O> B> AB. It was observed that 87.033 (82.49%) of the blood donors were men and 18.480 (17.51%) were women, and the K / E ratio was 0.21 / 1 and men donated more blood than women. When the age group distributions are examined; 44.98% of donors were in the age group of 18-25, 20.52% in the age group of 26-35, 17.47% in the age group of 36- 45, 13.22% in the age group of 46- 55, and 3.81% in the age group of 56-65. It was determined that 12.571 people (11.91%) are primary school, 10.389 people (9.85%) are secondary school and 31.187 people (29.56%) are high school graduates, 50,901 people (48.24%) are associate, undergraduate, graduate and doctoral students or graduates and 465 people (0.44%) did not have any education. When the blood donors were analyzed by profession groups, it was determined that there were donors from many profession groups and the highest donor groups consisted of 31.9% students, 23.34% self-employed and 8.58% workers. Conclusions: Trabzon province of ABO and Rh blood groups were determined to be close to Turkey average value profile. As in Turkey, A blood group ratio was significantly high and B and AB blood group rates were significantly lower. The awareness of the age group between the ages of 18-25 about blood donation was higher than the other age groups. Regarding blood donation, it was determined that male sex donated more than women. It was determined that individuals with undergraduate and higher education constitute a significant part of the donors and when donors are examined as profession groups it was the group of students who donated the most blood. Support and information programs espacially for women, over 25 age group and pre-graduate persons to be donors will be appropriate to increase the number of donors. And by determining the blood group distributions of each region, urgent or intensive blood product needs will be resolved quickly and easily. Our results will contribute to the creation of a database on the distribution of blood groups and donor demography of the region. Key Words: ABO, blood group, demographic features, blood donor, Rh