Assessment of psychosocial adjustment in Chinese unrelated bone marrow donors

This descriptive study assessed the experiences of unrelated bone marrow do nation in 27 Chinese donors and compared their mood states with a random sa mple of 78 Chinese adult non-donors using four scales. The donors demonstra ted better mood states in terms of anger-hostility and fatigue compared to non-donors. However, their self-esteem was low (similarly to the non-donors ), they did not see themselves as a better person as a result of the donati on and they thought they did an act somewhat more generously than usual. Th is is possibly attributed to the cultural influences of normative obligatio n, The majority (57.9%) believed that they were not prepared well for the d onation, and 40% found the experience emotionally less positive than they e xpected. Some found the experience physically stressful (10.5%) and some ot hers were worried that their future health may be affected as a result of t he donation (15.8%), Although a quarter of the donors was unsure whether th ey would donate again or whether they would encourage others to donate, the majority would donate again, Such results demonstrate that donors need car eful and individualised attention in order to gain a more positive overall experience of the donation. Furthermore, services should be more vigilant i n assessing donor needs and intervening when donors experience difficulties due to the donation process.