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Does Questionnaire Distribution Promote Blood Donation? An Investigation of Question–Behavior Effects

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Annals of Behavioral Medicine

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to assess the effectiveness of survey administration as a population-level intervention to increase blood donation.

Methods

Study 1 was a randomized controlled trial of new donors comparing 3,518 who received a questionnaire and 3,490 who did not. Study 2 compared matched, randomly selected samples of active donors; 5,789 received a questionnaire, while 6,000 did not. In both studies, the dependent measure was the proportion of donors who attended a blood donation center to give blood within 6 months of survey posting. Study 3 compared data across five similar trials.

Results

No difference in volunteering to give blood was observed between those who did and did not receive a questionnaire among either new or active donors, confirming the findings of two other Canadian trials.

Conclusions

Despite earlier optimistic findings, there is little evidence to suggest that survey administration per se will be effective in increasing blood supplies. Implications for behavior change mechanisms are discussed.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to express their gratitude to Ms. F. Atsma, Ph.D., Ms. K. Habets, MA, and Ms. J. Melssen of Sanquin Research for their contributions to data collection during the Donor InSight study. We also thank Gaston Godin for providing data from his team’s Canadian trials. Finally, we acknowledge funding from Sanquin Blood Collection and from the UK National Institute for Health Research Collaborations for Leadership in Applied Health Research and Care. We note, however, that the views expressed in this paper are those of the authors and not necessarily those of Sanquin, NIHR, or the UK Department of Health.

Conflict of Interest Statement

The authors have no conflict of interest to disclose.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Unit Donor Studies, Sanquin Research, P.O. Box 1013, 6501 BA, Nijmegen, The Netherlands

    Anne van Dongen MA & Ingrid J. T. Veldhuizen PhD

  2. Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands

    Anne van Dongen MA & Robert A. C. Ruiter PhD

  3. University of Exeter Medical School, University of Exeter, Exeter, UK

    Charles Abraham PhD

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  1. Anne van Dongen MA
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  4. Ingrid J. T. Veldhuizen PhD
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Correspondence to Anne van Dongen MA.

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van Dongen, A., Abraham, C., Ruiter, R.A.C. et al. Does Questionnaire Distribution Promote Blood Donation? An Investigation of Question–Behavior Effects. ann. behav. med. 45, 163–172 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12160-012-9449-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12160-012-9449-3

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