Open Access

Klara Greffin, Holger Muehlan, Samuel Tomczyk, Ariane Suemnig, Silke Schmidt, Andreas Greinacher

• Introduction: To maintain a sufficient donor pool, deferred first-time donors (FTD) should be motivated to return for blood donation. This pilot study investigates how deferral affects momentary mood, satisfaction with the donation process, and subsequent return behavior to examine their potential for motivating (deferred) FTD. Methods: All of the subjects (n = 96) completed a first questionnaire (A1) before pre-donation assessment. Deferred FTD (n = 22) were asked to complete a second questionnaire (A2) immediately after deferral, while non-deferred FTD (n = 74) filled in the second questionnaire (A3) after blood donation. The impact of deferral, momentary mood, and satisfaction with the donation process on return behavior within 12 months was tested by calculating two path analyses, controlling for sex and age. Results: Mood (p < 0.001) and satisfaction with social aspects of the donation process (p = 0.01) were decreased after deferral. Deferred FTD were less likely than non-deferred FTD to return to the blood donation center within 12 months (60.8 vs. 36.4%; p = 0.043). However, path analyses revealed that deferral effects on mood and satisfaction were not connected to return behavior. Instead, age had a significant influence on return behavior (p < 0.05) such that, overall, non-returning FTD were older than returning FTD, regardless of their deferral status. Conclusion: Our findings suggest that mood and satisfaction with the donation process are directly affected by deferral but not clearly responsible for low return rates. It seems promising to embed these variables in established health behavior models in further studies to increase the return rates of deferred FTD.