Barriers to Stem Cell Donor Registration: The Role of Altruism, Awareness, and Financial Incentives
Vikram Varanasi
23/09/2026
Out of the many patients in America diagnosed with diseases that can be treated with stem cell donation, only some are able to find a match to save their life. Despite this need for more donors on the registry, many people who have heard of stem cell donation still do not know much about how it actually works, and most are never given a direct chance to register. Common misconceptions and other fears continue to be some of the reasons why people choose not to join the donor registry. This study examined the barriers preventing stem cell donor participation through a narrative literature review and a cross-sectional survey of 79 respondents attending community events.
The findings of this study show that altruistic motivation is the primary motivator for people joining the stem cell donor registry. Views on financial incentives were mixed with about half the respondents preferring no incentive, though few felt that incentives reduced the altruistic nature of donation. Although only 15.2% of respondents registered prior to the event, 65.8% stated that they were willing to register at the event itself. Since the participant’s willingness was not measured prior to the events, this study will not be able to determine whether the events themselves increased willingness to register. It only has the ability to report that respondents at the event reported high willingness to register. A majority of the respondents reported that they would still donate without the payments and did not see modest incentives as reducing the altruistic nature of donation. On the other hand, factors that they believed would make registering to be a donor easier were clearer information and greater convenience rather than payment.