Knowledge and perceptions of South African blood donors towards biobanking and stool donation

• Published in: Southern African journal of infectious diseases 2024-10, Vol.39 (1), p.e1-e7
• Main Authors: Claassen-Weitz, Shantelle, Du Toit, Elloise, Gardner-Lubbe, Sugnet, Kullin, Brian, Bellairs, Gregory, Hilton, Caroline, Chicken, Anika, Welp, Kirsten, Livingstone, Hannah, Brink, Adrian
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Analysis; Blood banks; blood donations clinics; Blood donors; clostridioides difficile; faecal microbiota transplantation; human microbiota; microbial dysbiosis; microbiome biobank; Microbiota (Symbiotic organisms); Original Research; stool donors; Surveys
• ISSN: 2312-0053; 2313-1810
• DOI: 10.4102/sajid.v39i1.645

\r\nBackground\r\nThe complexity of contexts and varied purposes for which biome donation are requested are unknown in South Africa.\r\n\r\n\r\nObjectives\r\nThe aim of this study was to provide strategic data towards actualisation of whether a stool donor bank may be established as a collaborative between Western Cape Blood Services (WCBS) and the University of Cape Town (UCT).\r\n\r\n\r\nMethod\r\nWe designed a cross-sectional, questionnaire-based survey to determine willingness of WCBS blood donors to donate stool specimens for microbiome biobanking. The study was conducted between 01 June 2022 and 01 July 2022 at three WCBS donation centres in Cape Town, South Africa. Anonymous blood donors who met the inclusion criteria were enrolled. Anonymised demographic and interview data were analysed statistically.\r\n\r\n\r\nResults\r\nAnalysis of responses from 209/231 blood donors demonstrated in a logistic regression model that compensation (p