A PROSPECTIVE COHORT STUDY OF BLOOD-DONORS - METHODOLOGICAL ISSUES INTHE INVESTIGATION OF INJURIES AND CHRONIC DISEASES

Blood donors have made important contributions to research, most notab ly in cross-sectional seroprevalence studies. The proposed New Zealand Blood Donors Health Study is a prospective cohort study of 30,000 New Zealand donors designed to investigate the determinants of common inj uries, cardiovascular disease and cancer. While robust from an analyti c perspective, the execution of prospective cohort studies in many set tings is impeded by methodological, economic and organisational barrie rs. We examined the operational considerations of implementing a large -scale cohort study at a transfusion centre and evaluated measures tak en to optimise data collection procedures. A pilot study of 1.000 part icipants revealed donor motivation to participate in this research was high (91% response rate). Comprehensive exposure data on lifestyle, b ehavioural and psychosocial factors were obtained from 95% of particip ants. Substantial heterogeneity in levels of potential risk factors wa s noted among respondents. Detailed dietary habit information and a st udy blood sample were obtained from 67% and 100% of participants, resp ectively Study recruitment and baseline data collection was feasible d uring routine donor visits with minimal interruption to donor centre s taff and procedures. We conclude the study design and characteristics of the regional donor program enhance the efficiency and significance of the proposed research.