ASSESSMENT OF BLOOD-DONOR PRIVACY DURING HEALTH HISTORY INTERVIEWS

Background: Given the personal nature of health history interviews, it is important to provide donors with both visual and auditory privacy. Privacy is affected by variables such as background noise, the use of visual screens, and the loudness of the donor's voice. Study Design a nd Methods: In Phase I of this study, an interview station and waiting area were simulated. To measure auditory privacy, a speech intelligib ility lest was given to subjects with and without the use of a free-st anding privacy screen and masking noise device. Phase II was a field t rial designed to evaluate screens and masking noise. Background noise was measured during each blood collection operation, and donors comple ted a survey Results: In Phase I, speech intelligibility test scores r anged from 78 to 5.1 percent, depending on the type of visual screen a nd the number of masking noise devices used; In Phase II, with the use of screens, 94 percent of donors rated visual privacy as ''good to ex cellent,'' compared with 74 percent who did so when no screens were us ed. At many blood drives, the background noise level exceeded the leve l of the masking noise. Conclusion: The use of visual screens increase s donors' perception of visual privacy. The use of masking noise is ef fective only when the health history interview is conducted under cond itions of low background noise levels.