The dynamics of the gender and age composition of the donor contingent: a 10-year retrospective analysis (2015–2024) using the example of Moscow multidisciplinary hospital

Introduction. For strategic planning, it is necessary to differentiate the impact of demographic changes in the population itself and the specific behavioral patterns of different age and gender groups of donors. The combination of these factors affects the structure and reliability of the donor reserve, making the analysis of long-term trends important for the strategic planning of the blood service.

Aim: to analyze the changes of the age and gender composition of blood donors, compare it with the age structure of the Moscow population and assess the loyalty of various demographic groups.

Materials and methods. In a retrospective study, the age and gender structure was analyzed: indicators and relative proportions of donors in six age groups (18–25, 26–30, 31–35, 36–45, 46–55, 56–99 years) separately for men and women. For each age and gender group, the proportion of repeat donors is calculated for each year of follow-up — the ratio of the number of donors who made more than one donation during the registration period to the total number of donors in this group for the corresponding period. To differentiate the influence of demographic and behavioral factors on the age structure of the donor population, a comparative analysis was carried out with the data on the age composition of the Moscow population for 2015–2024. For comparability, donors (18–30, 31–45, 46–55, 56–99 years old) were compared with the corresponding population groups (20–29, 30–49, 50–59, 60 years and older).

Results. The aging of the donor population was revealed (the core shift from the 18–25-year-old group to the 36–45-yearold group, which by 2024 amounted to 30.9 %), a change in gender dominance from female (54.4 % in 2015) to male (58.9 % in 2024), as well as the superiority of loyalty of male donors aged 18–55 years. The formation of a new age core of donors was an independent behavioral phenomenon, rather than a consequence of demographic aging of the population. The COVID-19 pandemic period (2020–2022) acted as a catalyst for growth, but did not change the underlying demographic trends.

Conclusion. It is necessary to adapt blood service strategies to the identified changes in the donor population, where behavioral factors play a key role along with demographic trends.

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