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Peer-reviewedCC BY-NC-ND 4.0Journal of the American Heart Association: Cardiovascular and Cerebrovascular Disease

Blood Donation Encounters as a National, Publicly Available Platform for Hypertension Surveillance

  • Pampee P. Young1
  • Umesh Singh1
  • Michael J. Twiner2,3
  • Phillip D. Levy2,3
  1. 1American Red Cross National Headquarters Washington DC USA
  2. 2Integrative Biosciences Center Wayne State University Detroit MI USA
  3. 3Department of Emergency Medicine Wayne State University Detroit MI USA
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Abstract

Background: To evaluate the usefulness of blood pressure (BP) screening during blood donation as a nationwide network for hypertension surveillance.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective analysis of routine BP measurements collected at American Red Cross blood donor centers and mobile units across the United States from 2019 to 2025. Volunteer blood donors aged ≥25 years were included. BP categories (normal, elevated, stage 1 hypertension, stage 2 hypertension) were assigned using standard clinical guidelines.

Results: We analyzed 20 849 150 donor visits from 6 192 654 donors. Overall, 17.87% of observations had normal BP, whereas 82.13% screened positive for elevated BP (10.56%) or hypertension (71.57%; 34.57% stage 1, 37.00% stage 2). Elevated BP or hypertension was more common among donors aged ≥40 years, men, and those residing outside metropolitan areas. The proportion who screened positive for stage 2 hypertension increased over time, with a corresponding decline in normal BP.

Conclusions: Blood donor BP measurements may provide a useful complementary source of data for nationwide hypertension surveillance, yielding a high rate of screening positivity. Blood donation settings offer a scalable, population‐level opportunity to enhance hypertension surveillance and prevention.

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Cite

BibTeXRIS
BibTeX
@article{young2026blood,
  title = {{Blood Donation Encounters as a National, Publicly Available Platform for Hypertension Surveillance}},
  author = {Pampee P. Young and Umesh Singh and Michael J. Twiner and Phillip D. Levy},
  journal = {Journal of the American Heart Association: Cardiovascular and Cerebrovascular Disease},
  year = {2026},
  month = sep,
  doi = {10.1161/jaha.126.049632},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.1161/jaha.126.049632},
  note = {CC BY-NC-ND 4.0},
}
RIS
TY  - JOUR
TI  - Blood Donation Encounters as a National, Publicly Available Platform for Hypertension Surveillance
AU  - Pampee P. Young
AU  - Umesh Singh
AU  - Michael J. Twiner
AU  - Phillip D. Levy
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/09/09
JO  - Journal of the American Heart Association: Cardiovascular and Cerebrovascular Disease
DO  - 10.1161/jaha.126.049632
UR  - https://doi.org/10.1161/jaha.126.049632
AB  - Background: To evaluate the usefulness of blood pressure (BP) screening during blood donation as a nationwide network for hypertension surveillance.  Methods: We conducted a retrospective analysis of routine BP measurements collected at American Red Cross blood donor centers and mobile units across the United States from 2019 to 2025. Volunteer blood donors aged ≥25 years were included. BP categories (normal, elevated, stage 1 hypertension, stage 2 hypertension) were assigned using standard clinical guidelines.  Results: We analyzed 20 849 150 donor visits from 6 192 654 donors. Overall, 17.87% of observations had normal BP, whereas 82.13% screened positive for elevated BP (10.56%) or hypertension (71.57%; 34.57% stage 1, 37.00% stage 2). Elevated BP or hypertension was more common among donors aged ≥40 years, men, and those residing outside metropolitan areas. The proportion who screened positive for stage 2 hypertension increased over time, with a corresponding decline in normal BP.  Conclusions: Blood donor BP measurements may provide a useful complementary source of data for nationwide hypertension surveillance, yielding a high rate of screening positivity. Blood donation settings offer a scalable, population‐level opportunity to enhance hypertension surveillance and prevention.
SN  - 2047-9980
ER  -