Causes of rejection in blood donors of a south Peruvian hospital at 3825 m.a.s.l

Introduction: Blood donation saves lives, thus blood safety is the most important part of the entire process. Demographic location leads to specific causes of deferral. Living in high Andean areas would produce hematological adaptive changes. It is for this reason that it is important to know the causes of rejection and thus be able to reorient the blood donation promotion programs. Objective: To determine the causes of rejection in blood donors of a hospital in southern Peru at 3825 m.a.s.l. Methods: A cross-sectional, retrospective study was carried out on the causes of rejection prior to the donation of possible blood donors from the Hospital III EsSalud; Juliaca. The records of pre-donors that were rejected were analyzed, from January 2014 to December 2018. The data was analyzed in the STATA v. 14 using frequency distribution tables and figures. Results: From the possible selected pre-donors (4,057), 1,699 (41.87%) were women and 2,358 (58.13%) were men. 1458 (41.87%) were deferred, men had the highest rejection rate 882 (60.49%) compared to women 576 (39.51%). Polyerythrocythemia was the most frequent cause of rejection 669 (45.8%). Conclusions: The rejection rate was moderate, with high and low hematocrit being the main causes.