Knowledge about umbilical cord blood banking among Greek citizens

Background. Umbilical cord blood supplies in Greece are not sufficient to meet the high transfusion needs. This study was designed to determine Greeks' opinion about umbilical cord blood, identify the reasons for the lack of motivation to donate umbilical cord blood and allow experts to establish better recruitment campaigns to enrich the donor pool. Materials and methods. The attitudes and knowledge about umbilical cord blood of randomly selected Greek citizens (n=1,019) were assessed by means of a standardised anonymous questionnaire. The results were analysed using the chi(2) test and Spearman's correlation coefficient. Results. Forty-eight percent of respondents knew about umbilical cord blood and had full knowledge about what storage/donation offers. Media (35%) and doctors (25%) were the main source of information. The information from the state was considered either inadequate or non-existent by 85% of the responders. Ninety-five percent of the people questioned would like further information regarding umbilical cord blood transplantation and umbilical cord blood storage/donation. Six percent of the respondents who had children and were in favour of umbilical cord blood transplantation, had stored/donated UCB. With regards to future decisions, 84% of the sample would store/donate umbilical cord blood, of whom 57% would keep the umbilical cord blood in a private bank. Discussion. It was concluded that Greek citizens receive information about umbilical cord blood from both the state and advertising campaigns by the Ministry of Health and Social Solidarity. A kind of cooperation between all hospitals and public umbilical cord blood banks would be advisable in order to facilitate access to umbilical cord blood donations.