Original Article

Knowledge and Attitudes of Faculty of Health Sciences Students towards Hematopoietic Stem Cell Donation

Hematopoietic Stem Cell Donation

Abstract

Background: Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation is a life-saving treatment method for numerous diseases. This study aims to determine the knowledge and attitudes of Faculty of Health Sciences students in a university towards hematopoietic stem cell donation and descriptive cross-sectional design.

Materials and Methods:  The study participants consisted of students studying at the Faculty of Health Sciences of a university in western Turkey. A total of 345 students were available to complete a survey. The data were collected online through the Google Form. Data were analyzed using the SPSS 25 program (IBM Corp.; Armonk, NY, USA). Moreover, the Chi-square test, independent samples t-test, and one-way ANOVA were used in this study.

Results:  25.2% were registered at "The Turkish Stem Cell Coordination Center", and 89.1% of the unregistered ones wanted to be a stem cell donor. The university students had a moderate level of knowledge about stem cell donation. While the participants were more knowledgeable about stem cell collection with the peripheral method, they had poor knowledge of stem cell collection methods from the bone marrow and stem cell donation processes. There was a significant correlation between the students' level of knowledge about hematopoietic stem cell donation and their university year, occupation, age, graduate school, and parents' educational level (p<0.05).

Conclusion:  In this study, it was found that the university students had insufficient knowledge on hematopoietic stem cell donation and their intention to donate stem cells was high.  Holding training sessions, seminars, and conferences for university students as future health professionals to raise their awareness of stem cell donation is recommended.  The fact that new-generation health professionals are sensitive and educated about stem cell donation can contribute to increasing stem cell donations in society.

1. Chen SH, Wang TF, Yang KL. Hematopoietic stem cell donation. Int J Hematol. 2013;97(4):446–455.
2. Narayanan P, Wolanskyj A, Ehlers SL, et al. Medical students’ knowledge, familiarity, and attitudes towards hematopoietic stem cell donation: stem cell donation behaviors. Biol Blood Marrow Transplant. 2016;22(9):1710-1716.
3. Copelan EA. Hematopoietic stem-cell transplantation. N Engl J Med. 2006;354:1813–1826.
4. Zakrzewski W, Dobrzyński M, Szymonowicz M, et al. Stem cells: past, present, and future. Stem Cell Res Ther. 2019;10(68):2-22.
5. Anasetti C, Logan BR, Lee SJ, et al. Peripheral-blood stem cells versus bone marrow from unrelated donors. N Engl J Med. 2012;367(16):1487–1496.
6. World Marrow Donor Association (WMDA). Total Number of Donors and Cord blood units. 2022:(Last modified: October 16 2022 15:05:46. Europe/Berlin +02:00 CEST), (https://statistics.wmda.info).
7. Türk Kızılay Kan Hizmetleri Genel Müdürlüğü (KHGM). Kök Hücre Bağışı. 2020:https://www.kanver.org/sayfa/kan-hizmetleri/kok-hucre-bagisi/53 (Erişim tarihi: 12.12.2022)
8. Almaeen A, Wani FA, Thirunavukkarasu A. Knowledge and attitudes towards stem cells and the significance of their medical application among healthcare sciences students of Jouf University. PeerJ. 2021;9: e10661.
9. La Nasa G, Vacca A, Littera R, et al. What unrelated hematopoietic stem cell transplantation in thalassemia taught us about transplant immunogenetics. Mediterr J Hematol Infect Dis. 2016;8(1):e2016048
10. Balcı YL, Tavil B, Tan CS, et al. Increased availability of family donors for hematopoietic stem cell transplantation in a population with increased incidence of consanguinity. Clin Transplant. 2011;25(3):475–480.
11. Hazzazi AA, Ageeli MH, Alfaqih AM, et al. Knowledge and attitude towards hematopoietic stem cell transplantation among medical students at Jazan University, Saudi Arabia. Saudi Med J. 2019;40(10):1045-1051.
12. Hreńczuk M, Gruszkiewicz P, Małkowski P. Knowledge, opinions, and attitudes of students of warsaw universities toward hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. Transplant Proc. 2021;53(6):1784-91.
13. Cebeci F, Sucu G, Karazeybek E. The roles of nurses to augment organ donation and transplantation: A survey of Nursing Students. Transplant Proc. 2011;43(2):412–4.
14. López-Montesinos MJ, Manzanera Saura JT, Mikla M, et al. Organ donation and transplantation training for future professional nurses as a health and social awareness policy. Transplant Proc. 2010;42(1):239-42.
15. Kaya Z, Gultekin KE, Demirtaayne A, et al. Effects of targeted education for first-year university students on knowledge and attitudes about stem cell transplantation and donation. Exp Clin Transplant. 2015;13(1):76–81
16. Sikora A, Wiórkowski K, Szara P, et al. Knowledge and attitude of Lublin universities students’ toward the opportunity of becomingunrelated bone marrow donor. Folia Med Cracov. 2014;54(2):27-33.
17. Çiçek R. Ebelik ve hemşirelik öğrencilerinin kök hücre bağışı hakkındaki bilgi ve görüşlerinin incelenmesi; Çanakkale ili örneği. Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart Üniversitesi Lisansüstü Eğitim Enstitüsü, Disiplinlerarası sağlık Yönetimi Anabilim Dalı; 2022.
18. Vasconcellos A, Nunes A, Feller E. Knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors regarding the bone marrow registry among college and medical students in Rhode Island. Med Health R I. 2011;94(10):302–5.
19. Ting CY, Lee YF, Lim CJ, et al. Factors associated with ıntention to donate hematopoietic stem cells among blood donors. Transfus Med Hemother. 2021;48(3):188-195.
20. Vatansever Yıldız N. Kan bankacılığı donörlerinin kök hücre bilgi ve farkındalık düzeyinin araştırılması. Ankara Üniversitesi Sağlık Bilimleri Enstitüsü, Disiplinlerarası Kök Hücre ve Rejeneratif Tıp Anabilim Dalı; 2020.
21. Gümüş Şekerci Y, Kır Biçer E. Sağlık eğitimi öğrencilerinin kök hücre bağışı ve nakli konusundaki bilgi, tutum ve uygulamaları. Annals of Medical Research. 2021;27(10):2737-44.
22. Lye JL, Soon LK, Wan Ahmad WA, et al. Knowledge and attitude about stem cells and their application in medicine among nursing students in University Sains Malaysia. Malays J Med Sci. 2015;22(4):23–31
23. Peter A, Angel MP, Bijo A, et al. The knowledge among student nurses regarding Umbilical Cord Stem Cell Banking. Asian J Nurs Educ Res. 2017;7(4):505-508.
24. Asgarpour H, Acar D, Balkaya F. Üniversite öğrencilerinin kök hücre bağışına ilişkin farkındalığı. Süleyman Demirel Üniversitesi Sağlık Bilimleri Dergisi. 2020;11(3):290-297.
25. Uskun E, Ozturk M. Attitudes of Islamic religious officials toward organ transplant and donation. Clin Transplant. 2013;27(1):E37-E41.
26. Suluhan D, Eker İ, Yıldız D, et al. Determination the knowledge, attitude and motivation of voluntary blood donors about being hematopoietic stem cell donor. TAF Prev Med Bull. 2016;15(6):512-17.
Files
IssueVol 18 No 4 (2024) QRcode
SectionOriginal Article(s)
DOI https://doi.org/10.18502/ijhoscr.v18i4.16761
Keywords
Hematopoietic stem cell; Donation; Knowledge; Attitude; University students

Rights and permissions
Creative Commons License This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
How to Cite
1.
Çiçek R, Dinç A. Knowledge and Attitudes of Faculty of Health Sciences Students towards Hematopoietic Stem Cell Donation. Int J Hematol Oncol Stem Cell Res. 2024;18(4):368-377.