Public Awareness on Cord Blood Banking in Saudi Arabia

Abstract

Background In the last decade, cord blood (CB) has proven to be a valuable source of hematopoietic stem cells for transplantation to treat many hematological disorders. Since then, many CB banks have been established worldwide. Our aim was to estimate the level of public awareness of CB banking in Saudi Arabia. Study Design and Methods A self-administered questionnaire of 22 multiple choices was conveniently distributed, consisting of demographics, awareness measure, attitude toward banking preference, and donation for research data. Results A total of 1146 participants have completed the questionnaire. The majority were young female 19–25 years old (26%), who are college graduates (57%) with middle class socioeconomic status (82%). The subjective assessment of the overall knowledge was inadequate (66%). For the objective assessment, 12 questions were asked about CB source, collection, storage, and usage. Only half of the subjects (52%) knew that CB is a source of stem cells. More than half did not know the main use of CB. About half did not know about the method of collection nor the condition of storing. Conclusion This study shows a high lack of knowledge about CB banking. More than half of the subjects were unaware of CB banking and its uses. However, most subjects are accepting CB storage, which anticipates great impact and efficacy on educational programs. Moreover, the data demonstrated that health professionals were not the source of knowledge. We recommend having comprehensive educational campaigns with clear information about CB banking to facilitate positive perspectives towards donation and scientific research.

Knowledge and Attitude Among Lebanese Pregnant Women Toward Cord Blood Stem Cell Storage and Donation

“…Similar to the study by Dinc and Sahin [16] which examined knowledge of Turkish participants about cord blood banking, found that around 70% had poor or very poor knowledge, which was similar to the findings reported by of Fernandez et al [17]. This lack of knowledge is consistent with other studies, such as the one conducted by Jawdat et al [18], in which more than half of the Saudi Arabian respondents were unaware of CB banking, and the study by Matsumto et al [19] showing that 75% of women participants knew nothing about CB banking in Jordan. However, better awareness was indicated in Australian pregnant women, where 70% of the respondents had adequate knowledge about CB banking [20,21].…”

Knowledge and attitudes towards stem cells and the significance of their medical application among healthcare sciences students of Jouf University

“…Alhadlaq et al in their study regarding implications of stem cells in dentistry observed poor knowledge among the male and females students ( Alhadlaq et al., 2019 ). Jawdat et al. (2018) in their study in general population observed poor knowledge about Cord Blood banking with 66% of participants possessing inadequate knowledge.…”

“…Throughout the World, public cord blood banks (CBBs) store more than 700,000 UCB units. There are 2 public CBBs in Saudi Arabia but no private CCBs are present ( Jawdat et al., 2018 ). Most studies have shown inadequate knowledge and awareness among public and healthcare staff about CB banking ( Perlow, 2006 ; Suen & Lao, 2011 ; Tuteja, Agarwal & Phadke, 2016 ).…”

How Knowledge about Stem Cells Influences Attitudes towards Breastfeeding: Case Study of Polish Women

“…In Poland, that phenomenon can be connected with advertising and a strong private network of cord blood banks, which store cord blood for future use by the donor or his/her relatives. However, many studies have also demonstrated a positive attitude towards cord blood donation, even towards public storage [ 30 , 31 ]. The results obtained show that some pregnant women knew that additional perinatal tissues containing stem cells with potential therapeutic value are routinely discarded as medical waste.…”