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Browsing ULSALG by advisor "Andraz, Jorge Miguel"
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- The impact of Portuguese demographic changes on the demand and supply of blood in the region of AlgarvePublication . Encarnação, Fábia Micaela Gonçalves da; Andraz, Jorge Miguel; Vasconcelos, EugéniaThe world cannot live without blood donors, since their donations are an essential and irreplaceable act to save patient lives. Attending that the population ageing evolution leads to a demographic change, we must be concerned whether the demand of Red Cell Concentrates will overcome the existing donations in the future. This is an applied study to the region of Algarve. In particular, it is based on the reality of the Algarve Hospital Centre, whose number of donors, donations, patients and transfused Red Cell Concentrates are evaluated over a five-year period, from 2010 to 2014. A forecast for Red Cell Concentrates demand for 2060 was obtained in four different scenarios. According to the results, by 2060 the population of Algarve will decrease 9.0%, blood donors and blood donations will decrease 24.0% and Red Cell Concentrates demand will increase 35.0%. Through a linear regression, 2046 was established as the year in which the number of blood donors/donations will equalize the demand of Red Cell Concentrates. In actual conditions, the forecast for 2060 reveals that, on average, the demand of Red Cell Concentrates will exceed donor/donations. The Algarve Hospital Centre would then focus its efforts on blood donation promotion among younger age groups (18 and older), as well as in the increase of donation frequency. Another important issue is the investment in the improvement of good transfusion practices, the optimization of patient and blood transfusion management in order to make possible the satisfaction of Red Cell Concentrates needs in the future.