Symptom experience of unrelated haematopoietic stem cell donors: A descriptive qualitative study

Purpose: Unrelated haematopoietic stem cell donors face physical and psychological discomforts, which aggravate their fear and hesitation and reduce their consent rate and donation efficiency. However, the available experience in the management of these symptoms is insufficient, and strong evidence and guidance are lacking. The symptom experiences of Chinese unrelated haematopoietic stem cell donors were explored.

Method: A descriptive qualitative study was conducted, and the COREQ checklist was used. Between July and December 2023, 14 Chinese unrelated haematopoietic stem cell donors were selected through purposive sampling and underwent semi-structured interviews. Conventional content analysis was used for data analysis.

Results: Three themes and 10 sub-themes were identified as follows: 1) feelings towards symptoms (symptoms appear in clusters, symptoms fluctuate over time, and psychological burden outweigh physical burden); 2) attitude towards symptoms (acceptance, ambivalence, and persistence); 3) needs derived from symptoms (information needs, emotional needs, physiological needs, and expectations for the specialised support provider).

Conclusions: This study provide a basis for healthcare providers to conduct targeted and effective symptom interventions. We emphasise not only helping unrelated donors alleviate symptoms, but also improving their ability to cope with and accept symptoms through the provision of information and emotional support, thus reducing the adverse impact of symptoms on their quality of life and the efficiency of haematopoietic stem cell collection.