PREDICTING VASOVAGAL REACTIONS IN VOLUNTEER BLOOD-DONORS

Measures of blood and injury sensitivity, pain sensitivity, and anxiet y were examined as potential predictors of syncope and related reactio ns in 215 volunteer blood donors. The Blood and Injury Fears subscale of the Fear Survey Schedule was the best predictor for first-time dono rs (r[84] = 0.43, p<0.001), whereas the Mutilation Questionnaire was t he best predictor for experienced donors (r[127] = 0.31, p<0.01). In c ontrast with previous studies, few significant predictions were observ ed for demographic variables (e.g., age, body mass index, or number of previous donations), suggesting that psychological measures may be be tter suited to the task of identifying high risk donors.