Knowledge and attitudes towards stem cells and the significance of their medical application among healthcare sciences students of Jouf University

Public awareness and understanding of stem cell treatments available in Saudi Arabia and their trust in hospitals and research centers involved in stem cell research-a cross sectional study

Introduction

Although stem cell research and therapeutic applications hold great promise for medical advancements, and have rapidly progressed globally, there remains a lack of genuine public awareness of the status of this subject in Saudi Arabia. Successful integration of stem cell therapy into healthcare relies on public awareness, understanding, and trust. Therefore, we aimed in this cross-sectional study to assess the public's knowledge, awareness, trust, support, participation, and confidence in stem cell treatments and centers involved in it.

Materials and methods

A voluntary questionnaire of 20 questions was distributed randomly via social media outlets.

Results

Three thousand five hundred eighty four individuals participated in the survey, with approximately half of them falling within the age range of 35-50 years (46.71%). Majority of the participants, 90.71%, would like to know more about stem cell therapy and more than half of the participants (56.94%) were unfamiliar with the idea, and a comparable proportion (50.41%) expressed concerns about the safety of stem cell therapy. A lower level of awareness, indicated by a score of 5, was evenly distributed across all age groups and genders. However, regardless of gender, older participants-especially those 50 years of age or older-tended to report higher levels of confidence, trust, and support than participants in other age groups. Moreover, trust, support, participation, and confidence score for those attained high school or less was statistically significantly lower than those attained master's or PhD degree. Of the participants, 33.57% had either received stem cell therapy themselves or known someone who had; about 24.07% of them reported that it was a cosmetic type of treatment.

Conclusion

The study emphasizes the persistent need for awareness and educational initiatives to minimize the lack of public awareness and understanding of approved stem cell treatments in Saudi Arabia. It advocates for increased education, transparency, and communication to bridge knowledge gaps and enhance public trust to ensure the understanding of successful treatment.

Exploring Parental Knowledge, Attitudes, and Factors Influencing Decision-Making in Stem Cell Banking: Rising the Future of Medical Treatment

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES

Stem cell banking (SCB) is a promising area of modern medicine with the potential to yield innovative treatments and cures. To effectively educate parents and implement laws and regulations that address parental concerns and encourage informed decision-making, it is imperative to emphasize parental viewpoints and their consequences for future healthcare. The study aims to establish the Saudi Arabian population's level of understanding regarding SCB and to comprehend the elements influencing parental knowledge, attitudes, and SCB decision-making processes.

METHODOLOGY

A cross-sectional study was conducted among the population in the Makkah region of Saudi Arabia. Demographic data, knowledge levels, attitudes, and decision-making variables were gathered from 380 respondents.

RESULTS

The study reveals a lack in their comprehension of the objectives and possible uses of SCB, together with the main sources of information on those banks and conveniently available banking choices. It showed varied results regarding attitudes about considering an SCB for their children. In addition, the majority of respondents had not made a consent decision about SCB for their children. It also illuminates the factors that could influence participants' decisions about SCB for their children and shows that a lack of information and understanding is the main obstacle faced by parents regarding SCB. It highlights that participants were generally in favor of learning more about SCB for their children.

CONCLUSIONS

This study broadens our understanding of parental decision-making toward SCB and clarifies the elements influencing parents' opinions and worries and offers significant ramifications for lawmakers, medical professionals, and SCB. These implications can be utilized to enhance communication strategies, create instructional programs, and ease the fears of concerned parents.

Knowledge, attitude, and ethical concepts of Sudanese medical students regarding stem cells and its application

One of the major challenges that stem cell transplantation faces is a lack of donors due to a lack of knowledge and awareness of the importance of stem cell transplantation, this implies that health care providers should arm themselves with sufficient knowledge to contribute positively to raising awareness. This is an analytical cross-sectional study of 1040 medical students from 10 universities from various Sudanese states, through an online self-administered pre-tested and structured questionnaire formulated by the authors with a particular focus and/or reflection on the knowledge and attitudes of medical students. The median knowledge score among all students was 8.0 (6-9) with the majority of students confirming that stem cells are capable of dividing and can self-renew for a long period (88.6%). Regarding attitude, the median score among the participants was 23 (17-27) with (47.9%) agreeing that competency in stem cell knowledge is important for them as future health care providers. In terms of ethical attitude; the majority of the students (59, 2%) think there's a need to obtain ethical approval before conducting research. Moreover, (45.9%) of students believe that health practitioners have the right to use stem cells in treatments if those treatments have been scientifically proven to be effective on animals and on human cells in the laboratory. It is important to promote educational programs that inform medical students about the full range of possibilities offered by stem cell research. Furthermore, more studies is required to determine how society and religion affect medical students' attitudes toward stem cells.

A Multicenter Study to Determine Knowledge and Perceptions on Stem Cell Donation, Transplantation Among Saudi Medical Students

BACKGROUND

Despite significant contributions to stem cell research in Saudi Arabia, knowledge and awareness of stem cell research is the subject of ongoing studies with controversial findings, specifically among medical students. This was a cross-sectional study with 685 medical students aimed to explore their knowledge and attitudes in relation to stem cell research and transplantation.

METHODS

A validated survey exploring knowledge and attitudes in relation to stem cell research and transplantation was administered. The total knowledge, attitude, and age scores were presented through mean and SD RESULTS: The results of the present study showed that university students in the Eastern Province had an average 35.88 knowledge of stem cell research. In contrast, the attitudes were positive among the entire study sample, with a mean of 3.79 out of 5. Both men and women had significant knowledge about the definition of stem cells and adult stem cells, bone marrow, whether stem cells can be used for drug testing, and recommended stem cell treatment if available.

CONCLUSIONS

The medical curriculum needs to be refined and enriched with additional data on organ and stem cell donation. This can be further enriched with experimental evidence through additional training initiatives that will allow those with negative attitudes to re-evaluate their perceptions and provide accurate information to patients as future health care providers.

Assessing the cognition, attitudes and intentions of volunteers regarding unrelated peripheral blood stem cell donation: The UPBSC-DQ instrument in Chinese

Objectives

This study aimed to develop and validate the Unrelated Peripheral Blood Stem Cell Donation Questionnaire (UPBSC-DQ) (an instrument in Chinese) to assess the degree of cognition, attitude and intention of enrolled volunteers towards UPBSC donation.

Methods

The development process of the UPBSC-DQ was performed in a stepwise approach that included extensive literature retrieval, expert revision, and pretesting with 442 students. We conducted an online cross-sectional survey using the final version of the UPBSC-DQ among 336 participants. The reliability of the questionnaire was assessed by Cronbach's α and corrected item-total correlation (CITC), and the validity was evaluated by a correlation coefficient matrix, confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), and t-test.

Results

The UPBSC-DQ consists of four domains: basic information, cognitive, attitude, and intention. The Cronbach's α values were 0.88 and 0.86 for the attitude and intention scales, respectively, indicating strong internal consistency and good reliability. Correlation analysis and CFA showed good structure and content validity. Interitem correlations indicated that each item had only a weak correlation with the other scales.

Conclusions

The UPBSC-DQ is a reliable and valid assessment questionnaire for individuals' attitudes and intentions towards UPBSC donation. The questionnaire showed good to high reliability, content and construct validity.

Knowledge about stem cell sources and obstacles in donation of bone marrow and peripheral blood stem cells: a cross-sectional survey from Ha'il city to track the prospects of regenerative medicine in Saudi Arabia

BACKGROUND

Promoting stem cell donation behaviors could be crucial in advancing stem cell-based treatment, research and improving public health in Saudi Arabia. Donation of stem cells can be considered an act of social welfare just like blood donation because stem-cell-based therapies are emerging as a hope for those suffering from chronic health conditions and/or terminal illnesses.

AIM

This study aims at assessing levels of awareness about sources of stem-cells, donor organizations and predictors of stem cell donation behavior in target population.

METHODS

The study employed a cross-sectional online survey method. The study sample comprises 1325 educated Saudi people living in Ha'il city. The survey questionnaire collected data about respondents' demographic background, awareness about various sources of stem cells and stem-cell donor registries, willingness to donate stem cells, registration status and obstacles in stem cell donation registration. Percentages, Chi-square analysis and Odd Ratios were computed to analyze the data.

RESULTS

In this sample, (n = 696; 52%) were males and (n = 629; 48%) were females. Although (n = 1308; 98%) percent of respondents reported willingness to donate stem cell, less than one percent (n = 6; 0.5) were registered with Saudi Stem Cell Registry. Over 50% of respondents hold inaccurate perceptions about sources of stem cell. Odd Ratio (OR) values from binary logistic regression model identified four factors as significant predictors of non-registration status. These included (i) unaware about donor agencies and procedures (OR = 10.07; p < 0.05), (ii) unaware about possibility to donate stem cells (OR = 8.08; p < 0.05) (iii) concerns about impact on health (OR = 10.01; p < 0.05) and (iv) have health issues that does not permit donation (OR = 10.50; p < 0.05).

CONCLUSION

Stem cell registrations can be enhanced through appropriate health education programs that focus on increasing awareness about donation procedures, trustworthy donor organizations and reducing people apprehensions related to donation.

Awareness of Stem Cell Therapy for Diabetes Among Type II Diabetic Patients in Makkah: A Cross-Sectional Study

Background Diabetes mellitus is a chronic disease that affects millions of people worldwide. Several studies have suggested using stem cells for diabetes treatment. However, there is a lack of research assessing the population's awareness of stem cells. This study aimed to evaluate the level of awareness regarding the use of stem cell therapy for type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Methodology This study was conducted from December 2021 to April 2022 through an online survey that was distributed electronically via social media platforms. T2DM patients or their care providers who lived in Makkah were included. Patients aged less than 18 years and those with mental disabilities were excluded. Results Of the 316 participants included in the study, 56% were males, 33% had an age range of 46-55 years, and 76% were married. T2DM patients and their caregivers had a moderate level of awareness about stem cell therapy, with caregivers having higher awareness than diabetic patients. A non-significant relationship was found between educational level, income, diabetes control, time of diagnosis, and patients' awareness. However, regarding the decision of treatment, participants aged less than 35 years were highly likely to decide to undergo stem cell treatment compared to other age groups. Conclusions There is a moderate level of awareness about stem cell therapy as a treatment option for T2DM among T2DM patients and caregivers in Makkah. Hence, there is a need to raise awareness by using online and in-person well-organized education programs in Makkah.

Knowledge and Attitude of Undergraduate Students and Interns toward Stem Cells and Their Implications in Dentistry: A Cross-sectional Study

AIM

The primary ideology of this research was to evaluate both the knowledge and attitude of undergraduate students and interns regarding stem cells and their use in dentistry.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

A cross-sectional observatory study was conducted among 310 dental students of Jazan University by making use of a self-explanatory questionnaire, containing a set of 25 questions and was sent as e-mail through Google e-forms.

RESULTS

There was a good response rate of around 81.2%, of which 80.16% were aware of the fact that stem cells are unspecialized types of cells that come with the potential to turn into any cell type. Almost 65.08% of the participants considered the possibility to continue root formation post-trauma as the fundamental use of stem cells, and a majority (71.43%) of the participants showed great interest in garnering more knowledge and training in the area of stem cells. About 50% of the participants showed strong opposition to the concept of embryonic stem cells as these are basically fetched from an aborted fetus or from an embryo. There was a major section of the participants (79.76%) who were even keen on organizing more programs to create public awareness regarding stem cells. Mean knowledge and attitude scores among the participants were reported to be 7.57 ± 3.10 and 36.04 ± 6.51 respectively.

CONCLUSION

Overall, the level of knowledge and attitude of dental students and interns at Jazan University towards stem cells and their implications in dentistry can be interpreted as adequate.

CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE

Advanced training and awareness campaigns on stem cells and dentistry would improve their knowledge and attitude.

Medical Professionals’ Knowledge, Sensitivity, and Attitudes Towards Social and Ethical Aspects of Stem-Cell Donation, Therapy, and Research: Implications for Healthcare Risk Management

Background

Knowledge, sensitivity, and acceptance attitudes towards social, moral and ethical aspects of stem-cell donation and treatment are important factors in preventing professional negligence and improving healthcare risk management and health justice in this specialized area of health services.

Objective

To assess knowledge, sensitivity, acceptance and rejection attitudes towards stem-cell transplantation and research and its associated factors among medical professionals in Saudi Arabia.

Methods

A quantitative and cross-sectional study was conducted in December 2022. Data were collected from 260 medical workers from various regions in Saudi Arabia. T-tests, ANOVA, and multiple linear regression were applied to find variations and associations of gender, age, profession, nationality, religious orientation, and work experiences of professionals with knowledge, sensitivity, acceptance and rejection attitude towards stem-cell donation, therapy, and research. A confidence interval (CI) of 95% and a significance level of p≤ 0.05 was chosen for testing statistical models.

Results

A total of (n=260) medical professionals, among which clinicians (n=98;38%), pharmacists (n=78;30%), and nurses (n=84;32%) completed the survey questionnaire. Findings show that (n=27; 10%) participants have work experience in stem-cell donation, (n=67; 26%) in stem-cell therapy, and (n=124; 48%) in stem-cell research. Clinicians and pharmacists, in comparison to nurses, had better knowledge (p<0.01 and p<0.05); pharmacists had higher sensitivity (p<0.05) than nurses. Compared to those who do not have work experience in stem-cell research, those who had work experience had higher levels of knowledge, sensitivity, and acceptance attitudes at (p<0.001) and (p<0.01). Acceptance attitudes are considerably higher among male participants than females and similarly higher among older participants than younger participants (p<0.05). Compared to non-Saudi nationals, Saudi nationals scored higher on rejection attitudes (p<0.01). Compared to those having work experience in stem-cell donation and research, those without work experience are more likely to hold rejection attitudes (p<0.01).

Conclusion

Findings suggest female professionals, Saudi nationals and those who do not have prior work experience in stem-cell donation, therapy, or research had low levels of knowledge, less sensitivity, and less acceptance attitude and are more likely to hold rejection attitude, signifying the need to address them to improve healthcare risk management.

Undergraduate medical students' perceptions regarding stem cells: Is there a need for incorporating a stem cells elective course in the academic curriculum?

Stem cell therapy has recently progressed from the preclinical to the early clinical trial arena for a variety of diseases. Moreover, the medical students lack the deep and full understanding of its significance and potential as the promising future cure for diverse diseases worldwide. This study aims at evaluating the knowledge, awareness, and perception of medical students as far as stem cells applications are related in the medical field. A cross-sectional survey was carried out using online questionnaires, which were distributed via e-mail to cover all medical faculties in Jordan. The data show that medical students are supportive of using stem cells and their therapeutic applications, and most of them are willing and enthusiastically want to improve their knowledge about stem cells; however, due to the tight schedule and the lack of an elective course about stem cells in the curriculum, many of them are not ready to undergo further training in regenerative medicine unless it becomes part of the assigned training and part of the learning objectives for medical students. These findings indicated the need to update the medical school curriculum with new hits in medicine and expand the range of courses offered for medical students so they can be up-to-date with the quick advances in different medical disciplines.

An Infodemic of Misinformation on Stem Cell Therapy Among the Population of Saudi Arabia: A Cross-Sectional Study

In recent years, the industry of unproven stem cell-based therapies has been on the rise around the globe, putting patients at great risk of potential harm. In this cross-sectional study, we aimed to assess the level of knowledge and awareness of the general public, including patients and/or their relatives, in Saudi Arabia on stem cell therapy and to assess the degree of willingness to try stem cell-based treatment options, should it be offered to them.

Approaches to the use of stem cells in regenerative medicine

PURPOSE

The goal of regenerative medicine is to replace or restore missing, dysfunctional, or damaged cells, tissues and organs of a person to reproduce their normal function. The main approaches are cell therapy, tissue engineering, and gene therapy. Postnatal neural crest-derived multipotent stem cells (NC-MSC) are a promising cell type for use in regenerative medicine. This is due to the specific features of their embryonic origin and the role of the neural crest in phylogeny and ontogeny of vertebrates.

METHODS

The study used research in vitro culture (monolayer cell culture, 3D culture based on hydrogels, organotypic culture of hippocampal slices, spherogenesis, directed differentiation); flow cytometry; cytochemical, immune-cytochemical and histomorphometric analysis; molecular genetic (RNA (ribonucleic acid) isolation, PCR (polymerase chain reaction) with reverse transcription, real-time PCR, nucleic acid electrophoresis); microscopy (transmitted light, phase contrast, fluorescent, confocal laser scanning); microsurgical; statistical analysis.

RESULTS

In this systematic review, the results showed that recently the neural crest-derived cells have been isolated from a wide range of tissues and organs of mammals at the postnatal stage of development. These cells, at least in vitro, demonstrate the ability to self-repair and multilinear differentiation into neurons, Schwann cells, melanocytes, adipocytes, osteoblasts, chondrocytes, and other types of cells, that is, according to their functional characteristics, they are multipotent stem cells.

CONCLUSION

According to the obtained results, tissue sources of postnatal neural crest-derived multipotent stem cells differ considerably in the degree of invasiveness of biopsy sampling, as well as the possibility of obtaining a homogeneous population of NC-MSCs, which is important for further clinical use.