Frequency of ABO and Rhesus (D) blood group among blood donors and blood requisition and utilization patterns: An insight towards optimal blood usage in a tertiary care hospital.

Objective: To determine the distribution and frequency of blood groups among the blood donors and assess the blood requisition and utilization patterns in order to strategize optimal blood utilization. Study Design: Cross-sectional Descriptive study. Setting: Fauji Foundation Hospital, Rawalpindi. Period: January 2021 to January 2024. Methods: Blood bank data including blood donor name, gender, blood groups, blood requisitions, blood issuance and blood utilization was retrieved from Fauji Foundation hospital’s management information system and blood requisition and collection forms. The quality indicators of blood utilization i.e. crossmatch/transfusion ratio and transfusion probability was calculated and analyzed using SPSS 21. Results: 22483 blood donors donated blood at our blood bank facility from January 2021-january 2024. Mean age 31±10.2 years (range: 18–56 years). Majority of the blood donors were males 96.4% (n=21682) while 3.5% (n=801) were females. A total of 21733 were replacement donors while 750 were voluntary donors. The highest blood requests were from obstetrics/gynecology department while the highest blood utilization was by the medicine department. The overall cross match to transfusion ratio was 1.3. The highest cross match to transfusion ratio of 2.5 was from obstetrics/gynecology department while the lowest was from pediatrics and oncology departments. Conclusion: The blood group O positive was the commonest blood group. Although, blood transfusion quality indicators show effective utilization however the pattern varies among different departments. Evidence-based blood utilization strategies need to be implemented for optimal utilization of blood.