Patient-reported experience measure in pancreatobiliary endoscopy: a systematic review to highlight areas for improvement.

OBJECTIVE

Increasing attention is paid to measure patient's experience using specific patient-reported experience measures (PREMs) as tool to assess the overall quality of care provided. The European Society of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy and the United European Gastroenterology have recognized the measure of quality of endoscopy facilities as a priority to provide an adequate service. However, although some studies included patient satisfaction measurement, specific PREMs for gastrointestinal endoscopy are limited, especially in the field of pancreatobiliary endoscopy, with heterogeneous methods and results. This study is aimed at systematically reviewing the literature to summarize the available PREMs for pancreatobiliary endoscopy and to highlight areas of implementation.

METHODS

PubMed, Embase and Scopus were searched until February 2020.

RESULTS

The search initially retrieved 1064 articles, but only six were includable. The identified studies employed several methods to measure patient's experience, with the most frequently used questionnaires being Gastrointestinal Endoscopy Satisfaction Questionnaire and Group Health Association of America-9. The following areas that need implementation were identified: (a) evaluation of pain is one of the most investigated areas but seems marginal, as most pancreatobiliary endoscopic procedures are performed under deep sedation; (b) endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) and endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography are considered as a whole, but they have very different indication and contexts (e.g. inpatients or outpatients); (c) 'experience' and 'satisfaction' are wrongly considered as synonyms; (d) the optimal modality and timing of questionnaire administration are unclear.

CONCLUSION

There are few tools to measure PREMS in pancreatobiliary endoscopy with several limitations. We have, therefore, started the process of building a specific PREM tool for pancreatobiliary EUS.