Background: There is paucity of information on the prevalence of anaemia among
blood donors in Sokoto, North Western, Nigeria. The present study was, therefore,
designed to investigate the prevalence of anaemia and its associated sociodemographic
factors among blood donors in Sokoto, North Western, Nigeria using a
combination of haemoglobin, packed cell volume and red cell indices parameters.
One hundred and fifty consecutively recruited whole blood donors, comprising of
148 (98.7%) family replacement donors and 2 (1.33%) voluntary non-remunerated
donors aged 18-60 years and mean age 39 ± 21 years constituted the subjects for this
study. Five haematological parameters (haemoglobin, packed cell volume, mean cell
haemoglobin, mean cell volume and mean cell haemoglobin concentration) was
assessed using the Mythic 22 CT fully automated haematology analyser (Orphee SA,
Switzerland). The prevalence of anaemia alone (haemoglobin <11.0 g/dL) was 16%.
The mean haemoglobin was higher among voluntary non-remunerated donors
compared to family replacement donors (13.8 ± 1.69 versus 13.5 ± 1.2).
Haemoglobin, packed cell volume and MCV was significantly higher among men
compared to women (14.2 ± 2.0, 44± 4.0 and 85±10) versus (12.35 ± 2.5, 42 ± 3.0
and 66±54) respectively (p=0.01). Haemoglobin and mean cell volume was higher
among civil servants compared to farmers and students (13.2 ± 2.9 and 92.5 ± 32),
(12.5 ± 21 and 78.02 ±49.10) and (13.21±2.5 and 87.8±50.5) respectively (p=0.03).
Anaemia is prevalent among blood donors in Sokoto, North Western, Nigeria. There
is need to review the screening tests for the selection of blood donors and include
haemoglobin measurement in the donor screening menu as well as provide iron
supplementation for regular blood donors.