Current Knowledge and Practice of Pediatric Providers in Umbilical Cord Blood Banking

Amy E. Armstrong, Rachel Fonstad, Stephen Spellman, Zoe Tullius, Sonali Chaudhury

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

2 Scopus citations

Abstract

More than 35 000 umbilical cord blood (UCB) transplants have been performed worldwide, prompting the development of private and public banks to collect and store UCB cells. We hypothesized that pediatricians, who are uniquely poised to discuss UCB banking (UCBB) during prenatal or sibling visits, rarely do so. Through distribution of a 26-question electronic survey to general and subspecialty pediatric providers, we assessed baseline knowledge and conversations about UCBB. A total of 473 providers completed the survey; only 22% of physicians ever discussed UCBB with expectant parents. The majority responded that autologous UCB transplants were indicated in malignant (73%) and nonmalignant (61%) conditions; however, these are rare indications. Providers practicing >10 years were more likely to address UCBB (P ≤.001), whereas younger and female general pediatric providers were significantly less likely (P <.001). Overall, pediatric providers rarely speak to families about UCBB, and we believe that they can be better informed to its current clinical utility.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)161-167
Number of pages7
JournalClinical Pediatrics
Volume57
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - Feb 1 2018

Keywords

  • autologous stem cell transplantation
  • private umbilical cord blood banking
  • public umbilical cord blood banking
  • umbilical cord blood
  • umbilical cord blood transplantation

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