Blood donor deferrals by reason U.S. 2021

In 2021, there were an estimated two million blood donor deferrals in the United States. The most common reason for donor deferral was low hemoglobin/hematocrit. This graph shows the estimated number of blood donor deferrals in the United States in 2019 and 2021, by reason.

Number of blood donor deferrals in the United States in 2019 and 2021, by reason (in 1,000s)

Characteristic	2019	2021
Low hemoglobin/hematocrit*	1,066	1,028
Prescription drug use	72	91
Pulse	-	140
Blood pressure	-	130
Other medical reasons**	192	-
High-risk behavior, MSM only***	7	3
High-risk behavior, all other behaviors	15	9
Travel or residence^	169	27
Tattoo/piercing/scarring	63	13
Other non-medical reasons	529	494
Total deferrals	2,472	2,010

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Release date

September 2023

More information

Region

United States

Survey time period

2019 and 2021

Method of interview

Online omnibus survey

Supplementary notes

Data is from the National Blood Collection and Utilization Survey (NBCUS).
* Donors deferred for low hemoglobin included those that do not meet the current FDA blood hemoglobin level requirements for blood donation.
** Other medical reasons may include the use of medications on the medication deferral list, growth hormone from human pituitary glands, Hepatitis B Immune Globulin (HBIG), unlicensed vaccines, or presenting with physical conditions or symptoms that do not qualify a person to be a blood donor.
*** High-risk behavior deferrals include deferrals intended to reduce the risk of transmission of infectious diseases including HIV and hepatitis viruses. Examples of questions intended to identify these risks are sexual contact (men who have sex with men [MSM]) and non-medical injection drug use questions.
^ Travel deferrals are deferrals for travel to a specific region of the world.

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