Perception about stem cell transplant in the eastern province of saudi arabia: a cultural perspective

Introduction: Stem cell transplant has become a widely applied modality of treatment worldwide as well as an area of public health concern. It has been shown that there is an improvement of long-term survival for patients with serious conditions who undergo stem cell therapy. The Eastern Province represents the highest prevalence of inherited hematological disorders such as sickle cell disease and thalassemia compared to other regions. Furthermore, about 3,000 SCD patients of the Eastern Province are candidates for hematopoietic stem cell transplant.
Method: Data were collected through a cross-sectional study using self-administered questionnaire, which applied from April 2015 to March 2016. The target population is all adults in the eastern province of Saudi Arabia who are above 18 years old (n=386) of both genders in which, 274 male and 112 female subjects are involved. The data was entered and analyzed by SPSS software version 21.
Result: Out of total 386 collected subjects, 69.2% have heard about stem cells transplantation, 60.9% support the idea of stem cells donation. Moreover, 42% do see their community lack awareness regarding stem cells. In addition, 37.8% have the idea that stem cells can treat incurable diseases. The majority of the subjects believe there are benefits in stem cell transplantation (75.39%).
Conclusion: The results depicted that majority have a positive attitude towards stem cell transplantation. Moreover, the religion strongly enhances the subjects' attitude toward stem cells donation. Nevertheless, the study reveals that subjects who have higher education level tend to have more knowledge. However, overall, knowledge is not satisfactory compared to developed countries.