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Does a blood donor’s age or sex affect outcomes for transfusion recipients?


January 18, 2015

Every year in Canada, more than 1.5 million blood products (red blood cells, platelets, plasma and others) are transfused into patients, often in lifesaving situations. However, it is unclear whether certain donor characteristics — such as age, sex and blood match — have an effect on the outcomes for patients receiving red blood cells.

A team led by Dr. Dean Fergusson has received $103,000 from Canadian Blood Services (CBS) to examine this question using data from CBS, the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences (ICES) and four major academic hospitals in Ontario. Understanding this relationship could allow for better use of a limited resource and improve patient care.

Co-investigators: Michaël Chassé, Alan Tinmouth, Shane English, Jason Acker, Alan Forster, Greg Knoll, Lauralyn McIntyre, Nadine Shehata, Carl van Walraven and Kumanan Wilson.

Ottawa Hospital Research Institute


The Ottawa Hospital Research Institute is the research arm of The Ottawa Hospital and is an affiliated institute of the University of Ottawa, closely associated with its faculties of Medicine and Health Sciences. The Ottawa Hospital Research Institute includes more than 1,700 scientists, clinical investigators, graduate students, postdoctoral fellows and staff conducting research to improve the understanding, prevention, diagnosis and treatment of human disease. Support our research. Give to the Tender Loving Research campaign.

For further information, please contact


Paddy Moore
Communications and Public Relations
Ottawa Hospital Research Institute
Office: 613-737-8899 x73687
Cell: 613-323-5680
padmoore@ohri.ca