Objective  To investigate the awareness on the knowledge about hematopoietic stem cell donation among the registered volunteers for improving volunteer recruitment and promoting donation willingness in the volunteers.

  Methods  Using cluster sampling, we conducted a self-administered survey among 2 361 volunteers with oral swab-based registration in Shanghai Marrow Donor Program during 2017. A self-designed questionnaire was used to collect participants′ information on the situation and acquisition of knowledge about hematopoietic stem cell donation and related factors.

  Results  For the 2 240 participants with valid responses, the mean score for knowledge about hematopoietic stem cell donation was 3.94 ± 1.951 to a maximum score of 7, indicating a relatively low level. The results of multivariate linear regression analysis demonstrated that significant influencing factors for the knowledge status included academic background, blood donation experience, voluntary service experience, with relatives or friends ever registered in donation programs, ever having discussion on organ transplantation with family members, value judgment on donation behavior, and the pattern of registration in the donor program (P < 0.05 for all). The participant-reported main ways of acquiring knowledge on hematopoietic stem cell donation were internet media, television program, and on-site publicity campaign.

  Conclusion  The level of knowledge about hematopoietic stem cell donation is relatively low among registered donation volunteers, indicating that comprehensive and continuous supporting measures are needed to effective operation of the marrow donation program.