Donor Willingness and Participation in Health and Genetic Screening within Blood Banks: A Narrative Review

Blood banks increasingly offer additional health and genomic screening alongside routine donation, providing donors with personalised results. This review aims to assess the available evidence on donors’ willingness to participate in additional screening and the behavioural outcomes following receipt of the results. We conducted a systematic search in Embase, PubMed, and Web of Science (February - March 2026) using predefined search terms and clear inclusion criteria. We identified nine relevant studies. From the eligible studies, we selected five articles for review that had the highest relevance to the research questions and offered complementary perspectives across genetic, metabolic, and cardiovascular screening modalities. Donors expressed a high willingness to participate in additional screening when it was supported by trust in the blood bank and clarity about the screening’s voluntary and secondary nature. Donors emphasised that receiving personal or genomic results should remain secondary to helping patients, in order to preserve the altruistic gift‑relationship that motivates donation. Behavioural actions, such as seeking care, making lifestyle changes, and discussing results with family, occurred mainly when donors received and understood their results. Clear communication and follow‑up procedures functioned as an underlying mechanism that supported both participation and appropriate action. As additional screening becomes integrated into blood donation practice, effective communication and supportive follow-up procedures are essential to promote informed participation and appropriate health-related action.