Facilitating donor compliance with strategies to prevent vasovagal reactions: comparison of web‐based and in‐center approaches

BACKGROUND: Research has documented beneficial effects of water loading (WL) and applied muscle tension (AMT) on reducing self-reported vasovagal reactions (VVRs) in whole blood (WB) donors. However, the optimal approach to reducing VVRs using these strategies in routine blood collection practice is not known. This study evaluated the effectiveness of embedding newly developed web-based and on-site donor education materials to increase the use of these two prevention techniques during blood collection. STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: Two studies were conducted with WB donors. In Study 1, donors (n = 375) were randomly allocated to evaluate one of three forms of educational materials (video, webpage, card) in an online questionnaire. In Study 2, donors (n = 598) were randomly assigned to view either off-site web-based or in-center educational materials and were surveyed after donation to assess compliance to the VVR prevention procedure and to self-report VVR. RESULTS: In Study 1, donors rated the video as having the highest message appeal and indicated greater likelihood to use AMT compared to the webpage and card. No differences were found in likelihood to use WL. In contrast, in Study 2, greater adherence to VVR prevention strategies was observed in donors who received the in-center instruction card in comparison to those who received the web-based materials. Examination of viewing data indicated that only a small number of donors had seen the web-based materials. No significant effects of the techniques were found on self-reported VVRs. CONCLUSION: Providing on-site instructions is the most effective method to increase donor compliance to VVR prevention techniques.