Factors associated with attrition from a national bone marrow registry

Area of Science:

• Hematology
• Public Health
• Biomedical Sciences

Background:

• The National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP) has successfully recruited a large registry of bone marrow donors.
• With a mature registry, the NMDP now prioritizes reducing volunteer attrition during the donor selection process.

Purpose of the Study:

• To identify factors associated with increased likelihood of donor attrition at the DR-stage blood typing decision point.
• To examine demographic characteristics, volunteer history, recruitment factors, and donation concerns related to attrition.

Main Methods:

• A survey was administered to potential bone marrow donors after they were contacted for DR-stage blood typing.
• The study analyzed data from 756 volunteers who continued with typing and 258 who declined participation.
• Bivariate and logistic regression analyses were used to identify attrition predictors.

Main Results:

• Factors related to volunteer history, recruitment, and donation concerns were significantly correlated with attrition.
• Nine key variables across these domains explained the majority of increased attrition likelihood.
• A dose-response relationship was observed: more attrition-related factors increased the likelihood of dropout.

Conclusions:

• Donor attrition is influenced by factors beyond demographics, including volunteer history, recruitment, and concerns.
• Identifying and addressing these factors can inform interventions to improve donor retention in registries like the NMDP.