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Number of recent sexual partners among blood donors in Brazil: associations with donor demographics, donation characteristics, and infectious disease markers
Author(s) -
Patavino Giuseppina Maria,
de AlmeidaNeto Cesar,
Liu Jing,
Wright David J.,
MendroneJunior Alfredo,
Ferreira Maria Inês Lopes,
de Freitas Carneiro Anna Bárbara,
Custer Brian,
Ferreira João Eduardo,
Busch Michael P.,
Sabino Ester Cerdeira
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
transfusion
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.045
H-Index - 132
eISSN - 1537-2995
pISSN - 0041-1132
DOI - 10.1111/j.1537-2995.2011.03248.x
Subject(s) - medicine , serology , syphilis , demography , logistic regression , odds ratio , demographics , disease , immunology , human immunodeficiency virus (hiv) , antibody , sociology
BACKGROUND: Brazilian blood centers ask candidate blood donors about the number of sexual partners in the past 12 months. Candidates who report a number over the limit are deferred. We studied the implications of this practice on blood safety. STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: We analyzed demographic characteristics, number of heterosexual partners, and disease marker rates among 689,868 donations from three Brazilian centers between July 2007 and December 2009. Donors were grouped based on maximum number of partners allowed in the past 12 months for each center. Chi‐square and logistic regression analysis were conducted to examine associations between demographic characteristics, number of sex partners, and individual and overall positive markers rates for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), human T‐lymphotropic virus Types 1 and 2, hepatitis B virus, hepatitis C virus, and syphilis. RESULTS: First‐time, younger, and more educated donors were associated with a higher number of recent sexual partners, as was male sex in São Paulo and Recife (p < 0.001). Serologic markers for HIV and syphilis and overall were associated with multiple partners in São Paulo and Recife (p < 0.001), but not in Belo Horizonte (p = 0.05, p = 0.94, and p = 0.75, respectively). In logistic regression analysis, number of recent sexual partners was associated with positive serologic markers (adjusted odds ratio [AOR], 1.2‐1.5), especially HIV (AOR, 1.9‐4.4). CONCLUSIONS: Number of recent heterosexual partners was associated with HIV positivity and overall rates of serologic markers of sexually transmitted infections. The association was not consistent across centers, making it difficult to define the best cutoff value. These findings suggest the use of recent heterosexual contacts as a potentially important deferral criterion to improve blood safety in Brazil.