Blood donors of the Canterbury regional blood transfusion service.

A study of 1262 city blood donors showed that they are significantly different from the urban population eligible to donate. City blood donors are youthful and live in middleclass suburbs, donating in relation to work. Men predominate (1.3:1) and donate for longer than women. Young women donate blood readily but often discontinue in their late twenties, whereas in the country, women predominate (1.3:1), and continue giving into their forties. Recruited city donors are frequently women in their thirties and forties. It is concluded that future city blood donor recruitment should be directed to suburban women in their thirties and forties.