Author(s)

Thomas de Lange, Michael Bretthauer, Lars Aabakken, Geir Hoff

Department of Internal Medicine, Section of Gastroenterology, B?rum Hospital, Sandvika, Norway.
Department of Internal Medicine, Section of Gastroenterology, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway.
Department of Internal Medicine, Section of Gastroenterology, Telemark Hospital, Skien, Norway.

Background: Several studies indicate that endoscopy reports lack uniform content and terminology. Thus ASGE, ESGE, and WEO have prepared guidelines to improve the quality of endoscopy reports. However, the acceptance of such recommendations in the community of endoscopists has not been assessed. Objective: The aim of the present study was to determine Non-US endoscopists’ agreement to current ASGE guidelines for endoscopy reporting and ESGE recommendations for image documentation. Design: 137 endoscopists were invited to participate in this internet survey, covering 34 items regarding the content of the endoscopy reports. Non-responders received three e-mail reminders before the study was closed. Settings: A web-based survey tool developed at the University of Oslo was used to perform this study (https://wo.uio.no/as/WebObjects/nettskjema.woa). Results: Eighty (60%) of the 137 endoscopists responded, to the survey. Their agreement to the various items of the ASGE guidelines for text content ranged from 21% - 100%. Only 8.9% (95% CI, 4.4% - 17.2%) considered it necessary to perform routine image documentation according to the ESGE guidelines. Limitations: The response rate of 68%, is on the lower limit of acceptable. Conclusions: The cohort of endoscopists agrees partially to the ASGE guidelines. However, they do not consider systematic image documentation necessary

Quality Assurance; Guideline Adherence; Gastrointestinal Endoscopy

Lange, T. , Bretthauer, M. , Aabakken, L. and Hoff, G. (2012) Acceptance of American society for gastrointestinal endoscopy’s guidelines for endoscopy reports. Open Journal of Gastroenterology, 2, 209-214. doi: 10.4236/ojgas.2012.24042.