Background: Frequent blood donations may lead to a depletion of body iron stores resulting in manifest anemia.
Reticulocyte hemoglobin content (CHr) – a marker for impaired hemoglobinisation (IH) caused by functional
iron deficiency (FID) – was investigated regarding its value as a routine screening parameter in
frequent whole blood donors.
Methods: In a prospective study, 917 frequent blood donors and 688 first time or reactivated donors were
tested for iron status and red blood cell count, including CHr. The ferritin index as a marker to indicate absent
iron stores (AIS) was calculated.
Results: Depending on the number of donations during the preceding 12 months, AIS were detected in up to
21.4% of male and 27.8% of female donors, respectively. IH was present in up to 6.4% male and 16.7% female
donors with 2 and 4 preceding donations, respectively. The defined CHr cut-off value was 28.0 pg to detect IH
in frequent whole blood donors with AIS, leading to a test specificity of 98.2% (positive predictive value, PPV:
57.7%) in male and of 97.8% (PPV: 82.9%) in female donors.
Conclusion: Determination of CHr is feasible to detect FID resulting in IH in frequent blood donors. It may help
to prevent the development of anemia in frequent blood donors and also can help to decide whether donor
deferral or even iron substitution need to be recommended.