An international survey of patient blood management practices

Abstract Background The Association for the Advancement of Blood and Biotherapies (AABB) conducted a global survey of patient blood management (PBM) practices. It determined changes in PBM practices since the last survey. Study Design and Methods A working group of AABB's PBM Subsection and AABB staff designed the survey using the Qualtrics™ platform. The survey collected data from January 1, 2021, through December 31, 2021, and data analysis was conducted. Results Responses were received from 274 facilities across five World Health Organization (WHO) regions, from which 205 (74.8%) were from North America (NA), and 25.2% (69/274) were from outside of NA or the rest of the world (RoW). Of all respondents, 46.0% (126/274) had a PBM program. NA at 50.2% (103/205) was significantly higher than RoW at 33.3% (23/69) ( p = .0049). In NA AABB transfusion guidelines, 36.8% (179/486) were the most followed versus RoW, with the Ministry of Health at 23.2% (29/125). The hemoglobin transfusion threshold of ≤7.0 g/dL (inpatients and outpatients) and platelet transfusion threshold of 5000/μL −10,000/μL (prophylaxis for inpatients and outpatients) were most commonly followed. Areas of improvement since the last AABB 2013 survey included providing PBM training increased to 61.7% (103/167) from 36.5% (219/600) and evaluation of patients undergoing elective surgical procedures for factors predictive of anemia to 46.0% (125/272) from 28% (144/507). Conclusions While gains have been made in certain areas of PBM, there remains room for improvement, as more than half of respondents did not have a PBM program.