Introduction:

Transfusion safety is based on obtaining safe blood from a healthy donor. Basic knowledge of the most frequent hematological alterations could help to generate blood donor selection strategies.

Objective:

To determine the frequency of alterations in the blood cell count in applicants for blood donations.

Materials and methods:

A cross-sectional study was carried out at the Hemotherapy and Blood Bank Service of the Hospital Nacional Cayetano Heredia in Lima, Peru, based on the review of medical records of 610 applicants to donate blood during August 2022. Demographic data (age and sex) and hematological profiles were reviewed. Descriptive statistics were performed to present the study data.

Results:

The age range was between 29 and 39 years and the male sex predominated (64.2%). The frequency of hematological alterations was 27.2%. Macrocytosis was the most common finding in the red series (14%). Anemia was more frequent in women (84.6%), with microcytic and hypochromic microcytic anemia being the most frequently observed findings in this group. Thrombocytopenia and leukocytosis were more common in males with 83.3% and 61% respectively.

Conclusions:

A high frequency of hematological abnormalities is described, therefore, the use of hemoglobin alone in the selection is not sufficient to establish the absence of these alterations in applicants to donate blood.

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