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Knowledge of Cord Blood Banking in General Population and Doctors: A Questionnaire Based Survey

The Indian Journal of Pediatrics volume 83, pages 238–241 (2016)Cite this article

Abstract

Objectives

To assess the knowledge of the general population and the medical specialists about the purpose and utility of cord blood banking.

Methods

One hundred individuals from the general population and 100 clinicians from various departments were enrolled in the study between August 2013 and November 2013.

Results

Fifty eight percent of the doctors and 82 % of the lay persons did not know any indication or were not aware of the correct indications of the use of cord blood for transplantation. Around half of the lay persons (42 %) and doctors (37 %) thought that umbilical cord blood can be used to treat any genetic disorder including Duchenne muscular dystrophy and mental retardation. Ninteen percent of the doctors thought that umbilical cord blood can be used to treat thalassemia in the same child.

Conclusions

The propaganda done by cord blood banks that cord blood is a biological insurance for the child is misleading and should be discouraged. The obstetricians and the pediatricians should take a central role in providing the correct information to would be parents to help them in taking a correct decision.

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Acknowledgments

The authors are thankful to all the doctors and the lay persons who participated in the survey.

Contributions

MT did the survey and MA made the layout. All contributed to the discussion of the results and manuscript preparation. The entire study was supervised and finalised by SRP. SRP will act as guarantor for this paper.

Conflict of Interest

None.

Source of Funding

None.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Medical Genetics, Sanjay Gandhi Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences, Lucknow, 226014, India

    Moni Tuteja, Meenal Agarwal & Shubha R. Phadke

Authors
  1. Moni Tuteja
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  2. Meenal Agarwal
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  3. Shubha R. Phadke
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Shubha R. Phadke.

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Tuteja, M., Agarwal, M. & Phadke, S.R. Knowledge of Cord Blood Banking in General Population and Doctors: A Questionnaire Based Survey. Indian J Pediatr 83, 238–241 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12098-015-1909-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12098-015-1909-x

Keywords

  • Umbilical cord blood
  • Stem cells
  • Doctors
  • Lay persons