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The effect of World Blood Donor Day on digital information seeking and donor recruitment
Author(s) -
Kranenburg Floris J.,
Kreuger Aukje L.,
Arbous M. Sesmu,
Laeijendecker Daphne,
van Kraaij Marian G.J.
Publication year - 2017
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/trf.14228
Subject(s) - blood donor , donation , medicine , confidence interval , significant difference , demography , immunology , sociology , economics , economic growth
BACKGROUND The purpose of World Blood Donor Day (WBDD) is to raise awareness for the importance of blood donation. The aim of this study was to quantify the impact of WBDD on digital information seeking and donor recruitment. STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS Google Trends data were used to quantify seeking behavior on “blood donation” and “blood donor.” Differences in relative search volume (RSV) between the 3 weeks surrounding WBDD and the rest of the year were calculated. Second, mean differences in RSV were compared to assess the additional effect of hosting using translated search terms. Third, we compared the period around WBDD with the control period regarding page views of the Sanquin website and Facebook likes and number of newly registered donors in 2016. RESULTS The mean RSV for “ blood donation ” in the period of interest was 78.6, compared to 72.1 in the control period (difference, 6.5; 95% confidence interval [95% CI], 1.2‐11.8). For “blood donor” this was 78.9 compared to 65.9 (difference, 12.9; 95% CI, 8.1‐17.8). We found no additional effect of hosting. In the period of interest, the website of Sanquin was visited 6862 times a day and 4293 times in the control period (difference, 2569; 95% CI, 1687‐3451). In June 2016, 54.6% (95% CI, 53.0‐56.2) more new donors were registered compared to the control period. CONCLUSION An international campaign like WBDD raises the awareness of blood donation and is effective in convincing people to register as blood donors.