Unrelated Hematopoietic Stem Cell Donor Recruitment of the Korean Red Cross: 20 Years Experience / 대한수혈학회지

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: The National unrelated hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) donor program started in 1994. The Korean Red Cross (KRC) has participated in this program from the start as a recruiting organization. Results of 20 years of donor recruitment were analyzed to make suggestions to manage potential donors more effectively and improve retention rate. METHODS: Statistics on registration, deregistration, and donation of potential HSC donors registered in the Korean Network for Organ Sharing (KONOS) registry from 1994 to 2013 were analyzed. For donors recruited by the KRC, gender and age distribution, and reasons for self-withdrawal were also analyzed. RESULTS: As of 2013, a total of 265,307 potential HSC donors have been registered in the KONOS registry, among which 38.8% have been recruited by the KRC. Rate of self-withdrawal from the registry was lower for the KRC than the mean of all recruiting organizations (15.9% vs 21.8%). Reasons for withdrawal were objections by family members (34.9%), medical conditions (28.8%), change of donors' mind (21.7%), and other personal reasons (14.6%). The overall retention rate during the 20 year period for KRC was 63.7% which was higher than that of KONOS (58.1%). CONCLUSION: The lower self-withdrawal rate and higher retention rate of donors recruited by the KRC are the result of continuous education of donors to maintain their willingness to donate not only during recruitment but also after registration. This study will help to improve the retention rate and manage registered donors more effectively.