Individual and contextual determinants of blood donation frequency with a focus on clinic accessibility: a case study of Toronto, Canada.

The balance between supply and demand of blood products is a question of great interest for the long-term prospects of health care systems. Trends that affect this balance include an aging population and increasingly large immigrant communities with lower donation rates. Blood agencies must implement several strategies to ensure a sustained supply of blood products. A better understanding of the determinants of donation frequency is essential to develop strategies that encourage new and existing donors to donate more frequently. In this study, we investigate the individual and contextual determinants of the decision to donate multiple times, with a particular focus on accessibility to clinics. The case study is the Toronto Census Metropolitan Area. Analysis is based on discrete choice models estimated using the attributes of the geocoded donors and clinics, and Census data for contextual variables. The results indicate that higher levels of accessibility increase the probability of donor return and more frequent donations.