Clinical Research Directory

Enhancing Blood Donation at Schools and Beyond in Malawi

First developed in Zimbabwe, Club 25 is an initiative to promote blood donation among young people, who present a low-risk population for the spread of transfusion transmissible infections (TTIs). Club 25 members in Malawi make a pledge to donate blood 25 times during their lifetime. The primary aim of this study is to compare a Club 25 donation program to the current standard procedures for student blood donor recruitment in 30 secondary schools in Malawi. Roughly half of the schools will be randomly assigned to a Club 25 intervention and the study will collect data on student blood donations in all 30 schools for three school years. Upon completion of data collection the rate of student blood donation will be compared between the intervention schools and the non-intervention schools.

Docudrama for Blood Donation in Ghana (DDID)

A cluster pilot RCT to evaluate the effectiveness of the docudrama compared to a control group (usual engagement with blood services) on repeat blood donation attempts among first-time blood donors. Secondary outcomes will be blood donor retention, attitudes, subjective norms, perceived behavioral control and intention as potential mediators of blood donation behavior among first-time blood donors. The cluster pilot RCT will have two arms: 1) docudrama and 2) control. Randomization will stratify by the type of site: mobile versus fixed. Each participant in the docudrama arm will receive the intervention one time immediately after blood donation. Participants in both the docudrama arm and control arm will receive standard blood donor communications and will be followed for six months. Actualized blood donation is possible every four months using NBSG guidelines; however, blood donation sessions may not occur at the blood donation sites until six months. Return blood donation attempts will be evaluated using the Southern Zonal Blood Center (SZBC) records (primary outcome) and participant self-report (secondary outcome) at six months. Secondary measures will be evaluated at baseline and six months from enrollment. The duration of the study will be 11 months, allowing for five months to achieve enrollment goals and six months of follow-up for the last individual enrolled.

grouP O wholE blooD : storagE leSion impacT And infLammation

"Etablissement Français du Sang" (EFS) prepares labile blood products from blood donations that are separated by type (red blood cells, plasma and platelets). The "Centre de Transfusion Sanguine des Armées" (CTSA) produces an innovative labile blood product, LTO-WB, corresponding to group O leukocyte-free whole blood. The objective of the PEDESTAL EFS study is to compare the inflammatory and biological characteristics of blood products prepared by the EFS vs. the labile blood product prepared by the CTSA.

BLOODSAFE Ghana- Iron and Nutritional Counselling Strategy

A randomized trial will compare 6-months of low-dose (65mg elemental iron daily) among prospective blood donors who are deferred for low haemoglobin but have passed all of the other pre-screening requirements for blood donation to a group of donors who were deferred from donating and receive the current standard of care (nutrition counseling only). An automated full blood count (FBC) will also be done to identify any safety concerns. The randomized trial will evaluate effectiveness with the primary outcome of at least one successful donation during a 12-month follow-up period. Safety will be evaluated by tracking iron supplementation related adverse events (e.g., lower gastrointestinal) and acceptability (e.g., compliance to study prescribed regimen) with monthly phone calls. Participants will be followed for a total of 12 months from screening with follow up phone calls at 4 weekly intervals. All participants will receive nutrition counselling and haemoglobin will be evaluated at screening. Individuals with very low haemoglobin (\<10g/dl in females and \<11g/dl in males) will be identified by an automated FBC at screening and referred for proper medical care. Sample size will be 264 per group: this gives 80% power for detecting an odds ratio of 2.6. With 2 donors recruited at each donation event, this will require 264 donation events. This corresponds to 2.5 donation events per week for 2 years or 2 donation events per week for 2.5 years.

Sucrosomial Iron and Iron Sulphate to Blood Donors

2 different oral iron supplementations after blood donation are compared.