(P-BC-34) Enhancing Young Donor Safety: Pilot Testing the Impact of High Sodium, Donor-Preferred Snacks on Vasovagal Reaction Rates at High School Blood Drives

Background/Case Studies: High school donors comprise 17-20% of the national blood supply but are at an increased risk of vasovagal reactions (VVR) due to lower blood volume. Current literature recommends salt loading as part of the donation process to restore and maintain blood volume. However, high school donors often do not comply with suggested recommendations, leading to an increased risk of VVR. Decreased compliance with salt loading often occurs due to donor disinterest in provided snacks. The objective of the study is to assess whether high sodium, donor-preferred snack options are effective in decreasing VVR compared to current snacks provided.

Study

Design/Methods: The study incorporated two phases, spanning from January 2025 to May 2025. First, a cross-sectional study to determine what snacks high school donors would prefer over current snacks was performed, with an emphasis on high sodium snacks. These results were qualitatively determined and led to the second phase of the study. After obtaining snacks that the high school donor base displayed interest in, three high schools that had hosted several blood drives during the past two years (2023-2024) were selected to pilot the donor-preferred snacks at their April 2025 blood drives. The second phase used data from the blood center’s reaction rate repository, to conduct a pre and post intervention analysis. The data included previous VVR rates at the three chosen schools compared to the VVR rates of the pilot blood drives at which the donor-preferred snacks were distributed (Table 1).

Results/Findings: Results of the cross-sectional study (n=34) revealed high school donor interest in very different snacks than the ones currently provided. Compared with snacks offered in prior years, the donor-preferred snacks also contained 150 mg more sodium per serving on average, increasing the likelihood of donors reaching the salt loading guidelines. Following the replacement of prior snacks with the donor-preferred snacks, there was a 50.9% decrease in VVR across the three pilot drives (Table 1). A chi-square test (weighted for group size in SPSS) revealed a significant association between intervention status and VVR rates, χ² (1, N = 1,084) = 6.09, p = 0.014.

Conclusions: The data demonstrates a potential creative solution to decreasing VVR rates in high school aged donors. The data also points towards the awareness that increasing high school donor interest around snacks could increase compliance with the guidelines for salt loading. The results also shed light on the importance of understanding the donor base and their needs. However, while all three drives followed the same process, it is important to not ignore the effects of donor anxiety, environmental factors, and education on VVR. Further studies are planned to address other variables in decreasing VVR.