Does questionnaire distribution promote blood donation? An investigation of question-behavior effects.

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to assess the effectiveness of survey administration as a population-level intervention to increase blood donation.

Methods: Study 1 was a randomized controlled trial of new donors comparing 3,518 who received a questionnaire and 3,490 who did not. Study 2 compared matched, randomly selected samples of active donors; 5,789 received a questionnaire, while 6,000 did not. In both studies, the dependent measure was the proportion of donors who attended a blood donation center to give blood within 6 months of survey posting. Study 3 compared data across five similar trials.

Results: No difference in volunteering to give blood was observed between those who did and did not receive a questionnaire among either new or active donors, confirming the findings of two other Canadian trials.

Conclusions: Despite earlier optimistic findings, there is little evidence to suggest that survey administration per se will be effective in increasing blood supplies. Implications for behavior change mechanisms are discussed.