Iron supplementation and nutritional counselling
interventions to improve availability and safety of
blood in Ghana
SHORT TITLE: Bloodsafe Ghana—Iron and Nutritional
Counseling Strategy Pilot Study (BLIS)
A feasibility and acceptability pilot trial of iron
supplementation to increase blood donation among blood donors
deferred for iron deficiency (ID) and iron deficiency anaemia
(IDA) within the catchment areas of the Southern Zonal Blood
Centre. The results of the pilot study will inform the design
of a larger pragmatic randomized controlled trial to assess
the effectiveness of iron supplementation compared to control
to increase blood donation success among blood donors
deferred for iron deficiency. The pilot study has 2
components: 1) a cross-sectional assessment designed to
estimate the prevalence of anaemia leading to donor deferral,
the prevalence of ID and the prevalence of IDA among
first-time donors, and 2) a longitudinal 2-arm parallel
groups trial among first-time voluntary donors that compares
haemoglobin levels at 4 months among those with ID or IDA who
receive iron supplementation to those without ID or IDA who
do not receive iron supplementation. The primary outcome will
be haemoglobin levels at 4 months.
Principal Investigators:
Dr. Yvonne Dei Adomakoh & Dr. Lucy Asamoah-Akuoko
Clinicaltrials.gov identifier: NCT04949165