title: Knowledge about umbilical cord blood banking among Greek citizens.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Umbilical cord blood supplies in Greece are not sufficient to meet the high transfusion needs. This study was designed to determine Greeks' opinion about umbilical cord blood, identify the reasons for the lack of motivation to donate umbilical cord blood and allow experts to establish better recruitment campaigns to enrich the donor pool.
  
  
  METHODS
  The attitudes and knowledge about umbilical cord blood of randomly selected Greek citizens (n=1,019) were assessed by means of a standardised anonymous questionnaire. The results were analysed using the χ2 test and Spearman's correlation coefficient.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Forty-eight percent of respondents knew about umbilical cord blood and had full knowledge about what storage/donation offers. Media (35%) and doctors (25%) were the main source of information. The information from the state was considered either inadequate or non-existent by 85% of the responders. Ninety-five percent of the people questioned would like further information regarding umbilical cord blood transplantation and umbilical cord blood storage/donation. Six percent of the respondents who had children and were in favour of umbilical cord blood transplantation, had stored/donated UCB. With regards to future decisions, 84% of the sample would store/donate umbilical cord blood, of whom 57% would keep the umbilical cord blood in a private bank.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  It was concluded that Greek citizens receive information about umbilical cord blood from both the state and advertising campaigns by the Ministry of Health and Social Solidarity. A kind of cooperation between all hospitals and public umbilical cord blood banks would be advisable in order to facilitate access to umbilical cord blood donations.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Laboratories, Laboratory of Haematology and Transfusion Medicine, Faculty of Health and Caring Professions, Technological and Educational Institute (T.E.I) of Athens, Athens, Greece.
authors.forename: Louiza Z
authors.initials: LZ
authors.lastname: Karagiorgou
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Laboratories, Laboratory of Haematology and Transfusion Medicine, Faculty of Health and Caring Professions, Technological and Educational Institute (T.E.I) of Athens, Athens, Greece.
authors.forename: Maria-Nikoletta P
authors.initials: MN
authors.lastname: Pantazopoulou
authors.affiliation: Department of Electronic and Computer Engineering, Technical University of Crete, Crete, Greece.
authors.forename: Nikolaos C
authors.initials: NC
authors.lastname: Mainas
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Laboratories, Laboratory of Virology, Microbiology and Molecular Biology, Faculty of Health and Caring Professions, Technological and Educational Institute (T.E.I) of Athens, Athens, Greece.
authors.forename: Apostolos I
authors.initials: AI
authors.lastname: Beloukas
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Laboratories, Laboratory of Haematology and Transfusion Medicine, Faculty of Health and Caring Professions, Technological and Educational Institute (T.E.I) of Athens, Athens, Greece.
authors.forename: Anastasios G
authors.initials: AG
authors.lastname: Kriebardis
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001294:Attitude to Health; D001771:Blood Banks / Q000458:organization & administration; D001793:Blood Preservation; D036101:Cord Blood Stem Cell Transplantation / Q000523:psychology*; D004522:Educational Status; D004651:Employment; D005191:Family Characteristics; D005260:Female; D005312:Fetal Blood; D005544:Forecasting; D006115:Greece; D006801:Humans; D033181:Information Dissemination; D008297:Male; D008402:Mass Media; D012494:Sampling Studies; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult