BLOOD DONOR-RELATED, APHERESIS-RELATED, AND TRANSFUSION-RELATED ACTIVITIES - RESULTS OF THE 1991 AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF BLOOD-BANKS INSTITUTIONAL MEMBERSHIP QUESTIONNAIRE

Approximately 2154 regional blood centers and hospital-based blood ban ks and transfusion services responded to the 1991 American Association of Blood Banks Institutional Membership Questionnaire that elicited d ata from 1990. Information from 2144 institutions was considered valid . Questionnaire topics were donor blood collections, hemapheresis, per ioperative cell salvage, component usage, and transfusion-associated d iseases. Institutional members reported collecting 9.3 million units, of which 90.9 percent were for allogeneic use in the community, 6.0 pe rcent were for autologous use, and 3.1 percent were directed donations . The percentage of directed-donor units that were crossed over for al logeneic use (51 %) was greater than the percentage of units transfuse d to the designated patient (49%). Only 12.5 percent of institutions r eported obtaining specific consent for transfusion. Of the 15.4 millio n transfused blood components, 8.5 million were red cells, 4.1 million were platelets, 1.8 million were fresh-frozen plasma, and 0.9 million were cryoprecipitate. There were 1263 reported cases of transfusion-a ssociated hepatitis. Approximately 44 percent of the patients who were tested proved positive for hepatitis B surface antigen, and 80 percen t of the patients who were tested proved positive for antibody to hepa titis C. The questionnaire's aggregate results can be used to assess c urrent patterns of blood donation and transfusion activities.