Distribution of ABO blood group/Rhesus factor in the Eastern Region of Ghana, towards effective blood bank inventory

Abstract

Abstract: Knowledge about ABO blood grouping/Rhesus factor has been associated with successful blood transfusions in many emergency medical situations. However, there is limited data on the distribution of ABO blood group phenotypes/Rhesus factor in the Ghanaian population, a situation which may undermine storage of predominant blood group phenotypes in blood banks. This study therefore, sought to investigate distribution of ABO blood groups/Rhesus factor in the Eastern Region of Ghana. Data was retrospectively collected from the records of four major healthcare facilities within the region. The findings indicated that the most prevalent blood group/Rhesus factor was O+ (6077/11298; 53.8%). The distributions by sex, age and ethnic group, showed that the proportion of females (50%), those aged between 21 and 40 years (44.6%) and the Akan ethnic group (57.6%) were highest. The blood group/Rhesus factor distribution among females, persons between 21 and 40 years and the Akan ethnic group showed predominance for O+ blood in the proportions of 55.0%, 46.2% and 55.0% respectively, compared with the other blood phenotypes. This study clearly showed that the characteristics of the ABO blood group/Rhesus factor distribution were skewed towards a population of donors rather than recipients, probably due to evolutionary advantage of blood group O in the Eastern Region of Ghana. Healthcare facilities in the region must therefore adopt a policy to stock-pile sufficient O+ blood for transfusion purposes.