The need for more diversity in the donor pool
Every four minutes someone is diagnosed with a blood cancer. For many of these patients, a bone marrow transplant or a peripheral blood stem cell (PBSC) transplant is their only chance for a cure. Only 30% of patients find a perfect HLA match within their family. The remaining 70% of patients are left with the international bone marrow, stem cell, and chord blood donor registry as their only hope for finding a match. It is wonderful that such a database is set up to help link patients with generous donors who register in hopes of saving a life. However it is not reassuring for patients when they are faced with this bleak prospects of this donor registry. While the database has grown greatly over the past decade, patients do not have good odds of finding a match. The probability of not finding a match is even higher and scarier for minority patients. While caucasians are able to find a donor about three quarters of the time, Hispanics drop drastically to 45%, and then Asians at 40%, and Blacks to 25%. Multi-racial patients have an even harder time finding a donor. While there are 7,500 Americans seeking a donor in the registry on any given day, only about 3% of the eligible American population is in the registry. Sadly, many donors are either not located or not willing or able to donate when called upon. The likelihood of dropping out of the registry is also higher in minorities.
It is important to grow the registry, especially with potential donors of diverse backgrounds. Much research has been done about the recruitment process for bone marrow donors. Hyde and White (2013) even isolated the characteristics of a person most likely to register. In 2001, Laver wrote about a specific education program that could target African Americans to encourage joining the registry. Equally helpful, Johansen, Schneider, McCaffree, and Woods (2008) discussed very particular reasons that could cause donors (specifically African Americans) to drop out of the donor pool. Some of the most prevalent observations were that females were more likely to consider joining than males, and that blood donors often showed more interest as well. However a large interference was often fear and convenience. It wasn't until after subjects learned about how noninvasive the donation procedure was as well as the fact that everything is free of charge, did they really start to express interest in joining the registry. I big motivator was the convenience and opportunity of having a swab drive immediately in a potential donors presence. If someone would have to find a donation center or register online on their own, they likely would never pull the trigger and actually join.
I would like to take these "ideal" qualities of potential donors as well as the perfect setting for recruitment and see if it yields results. I am also interested no notice how diverse the pool of people who register is. In addition to observing these practices, I am surveying anonymously a random sample of the student body and inquiring about their pre-existing knowledge about the registry as well as any reservations or interest in joining. I will be interested to see if there are any differences across ethnic identities and if I can find a way to better target young donors, specifically those who identify as Black, Hispanic, Asian, Native American, and mixed race.
It is important to grow the registry, especially with potential donors of diverse backgrounds. Much research has been done about the recruitment process for bone marrow donors. Hyde and White (2013) even isolated the characteristics of a person most likely to register. In 2001, Laver wrote about a specific education program that could target African Americans to encourage joining the registry. Equally helpful, Johansen, Schneider, McCaffree, and Woods (2008) discussed very particular reasons that could cause donors (specifically African Americans) to drop out of the donor pool. Some of the most prevalent observations were that females were more likely to consider joining than males, and that blood donors often showed more interest as well. However a large interference was often fear and convenience. It wasn't until after subjects learned about how noninvasive the donation procedure was as well as the fact that everything is free of charge, did they really start to express interest in joining the registry. I big motivator was the convenience and opportunity of having a swab drive immediately in a potential donors presence. If someone would have to find a donation center or register online on their own, they likely would never pull the trigger and actually join.
I would like to take these "ideal" qualities of potential donors as well as the perfect setting for recruitment and see if it yields results. I am also interested no notice how diverse the pool of people who register is. In addition to observing these practices, I am surveying anonymously a random sample of the student body and inquiring about their pre-existing knowledge about the registry as well as any reservations or interest in joining. I will be interested to see if there are any differences across ethnic identities and if I can find a way to better target young donors, specifically those who identify as Black, Hispanic, Asian, Native American, and mixed race.