Follow-up of Related Stem Cell Donors One Week Post Donation

Topic Significance & Study Purpose/Background/Rationale It has been observed (Blood, 5/01;Blood 10/2012) that unrelated bone marrow and peripheral blood stem cell donors experience similar levels of mind/moderate discomfort post donation with bone marrow donors having a longer period of discomfort post donation. FACT standards now recommend long-term follow-up of donors.  This center cares for approximately 70 related donors a year. Previous to this project, nurses assessed the donors (both apheresis and marrow) the day post donation, and instructed them to call if they had questions thereafter. To improve follow up, nurses caring for the donors initiated a trial to conduct a telephone interview assessment of all donors a week after their final Clinic visit. Methods, Intervention, & Analysis In October 2013 a pilot was undertaken to actively assess related donors post donation. A questionnaire was vetted and approved to be used in telephone follow up by the Clinic RN who had cared for the donor. All donors were called 1 week following donation and monitored for symptoms of discomfort. If any symptoms were reported, follow up continued until resolved. This pilot was also used as a quality audit tool, asking the donors if there was anything we could have told them that would have been helpful, and if there was anything they thought we could improve upon. Findings & Interpretation and Discussion & Implications At the time of this submission, we have made 35 follow up calls, of those 24 had no symptoms, 8 reported symptoms of discomfort and 3 were unable to be contacted. Over ¼ of the patients had mild to moderate discomfort at one week post donation. Follow up contact with donors provides an on-going link with the clinical team and yields useful information for addressing the needs of donors.