Knowledge, attitude, and ethical concepts of Sudanese medical students regarding stem cells and its application.

Abstract

One of the major challenges that stem cell transplantation faces is a lack of donors due to a lack of knowledge and awareness of the importance of stem cell transplantation, this implies that health care providers should arm themselves with sufficient knowledge to contribute positively to raising awareness. This is an analytical cross-sectional study of 1040 medical students from 10 universities from various Sudanese states, through an online self-administered pre-tested and structured questionnaire formulated by the authors with a particular focus and/or reflection on the knowledge and attitudes of medical students. The median knowledge score among all students was 8.0 (6-9) with the majority of students confirming that stem cells are capable of dividing and can self-renew for a long period (88.6%). Regarding attitude, the median score among the participants was 23 (17-27) with (47.9%) agreeing that competency in stem cell knowledge is important for them as future health care providers. In terms of ethical attitude; the majority of the students (59, 2%) think there's a need to obtain ethical approval before conducting research. Moreover, (45.9%) of students believe that health practitioners have the right to use stem cells in treatments if those treatments have been scientifically proven to be effective on animals and on human cells in the laboratory. It is important to promote educational programs that inform medical students about the full range of possibilities offered by stem cell research. Furthermore, more studies is required to determine how society and religion affect medical students' attitudes toward stem cells.