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©The Author(s) 2022. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastrointest Pathophysiol. Nov 22, 2022; 13(6): 178-185
Published online Nov 22, 2022. doi: 10.4291/wjgp.v13.i6.178
Knowledge regarding celiac disease among healthcare professionals, patients and their caregivers in Turkey
Yasin Sahin, Eylem Sevinc, Nevzat Aykut Bayrak, Fatma Ilknur Varol, Ulas Emre Akbulut, Ayşegül Bükülmez
Yasin Sahin, Department of Pediatric Gastroenterology, Dr. Ersin Arslan Training and Research Hospital, Gaziantep, Turkey
Yasin Sahin, Gaziantep Islam Science and Technology University, Faculty of Medicine, Gaziantep 27560, Gaziantep, Turkey
Eylem Sevinc, Department of Pediatric Gastroenterology, Karabuk University, Faculty of Medicine, Karabuk 78100, Karabuk, Turkey
Nevzat Aykut Bayrak, Department of Pediatric Gastroenterology, Zeynep Kamil Women and Children's Training and Research Hospital, University of Health Sciences, Istanbul 34668, Istanbul, Turkey
Fatma Ilknur Varol, Department of Pediatric Gastroenterology, Inonu University, Faculty of Medicine, Malatya 244280, Malatya, Turkey
Ulas Emre Akbulut, Department of Pediatric Gastroenterology, University of Health Sciences, Antalya Training and Research Hospital, Antalya 07100, Antalya, Turkey
Ayşegül Bükülmez, Department of Pediatric Gastroenterology, Afyonkarahisar Health Sciences University, Afyonkarahisar 03200, Afyonkarahisar, Turkey
Author contributions: Sahin Y designed the study, analyzed the data, interpreted the data, conceived the study, was involved in the statistical analysis, and wrote the manuscript; Sevinc E, Bayrak NA, Varol FI, Akbulut UA, and Bukulmez A collected the data, and analyzed the data; All authors have read and approved the final manuscript.
Institutional review board statement: The Local Ethics Committee approved the study (Sanko University, Gaziantep, Turkey, June 2, 2021/06).
Informed consent statement: Informed consent was obtained from all participants.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
Data sharing statement: The data on the findings of this paper are all included in the tables.
CONSORT 2010 statement: The authors have read the CONSORT Statement—checklist of items, and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the CONSORT Statement—checklist of items.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See:
https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/ Corresponding author: Yasin Sahin, MD, Academic Editor, Associate Professor, Department of Pediatric Gastroenterology, Dr. Ersin Arslan Training and Research Hospital; Gaziantep Islam Science and Technology University, Faculty of Medicine, Gaziantep 27560, Gaziantep, Turkey. ysahin977@gmail.com
Received: August 17, 2022
Peer-review started: August 17, 2022
First decision: September 8, 2022
Revised: September 22, 2022
Accepted: November 22, 2022
Article in press: November 22, 2022
Published online: November 22, 2022
ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS
Research background
Celiac disease (CD) is a systemic autoimmune disorder characterized by a combination of various degrees of small bowel damage and diverse clinical manifestations triggered by gluten ingestion in people who are genetically vulnerable. It is one of the most prevalent chronic disorders. The clinical manifestations of CD are diverse and may present with gastrointestinal findings, extra-intestinal findings or no symptoms. Up to 95% of patients with CD remain undiagnosed. As most cases have atypical signs or no symptoms, the diagnosis of CD is either missed or delayed. In addition, one of the most important reasons for the delay in diagnosis may be the poor knowledge of healthcare professionals (HCPs) on CD.
Research motivation
There are limited studies investigating the knowledge on CD among HCPs, patients and their caregivers. To our knowledge, there are no studies on this issue in Turkey. Thus, we aimed to evaluate the knowledge on CD among HCPs, patients and their caregivers.
Research objectives
To evaluate the knowledge on CD among HCPs, patients and their caregivers.
Research methods
The current study was carried out between June 2021 and February 2022 prospectively, as part of the Focus IN CD project. Patients with CD and their caregivers participated in the study from 6 different cities in Turkey. In addition, general practitioners, pediatricians, pediatricians with other subspecialities and pediatric gastroenterologists from different cities participated in the study.
Research results
The questionnaire was completed by 348 HCPs, 34 patients with CD, 102 mothers and 34 fathers of patients with CD. Most of the participants were general practitioners (37.07%). There were 89 (25.57%) pediatricians and 72 (20.69%) pediatric gastroenterologists in the study. The highest score in all categories was achieved by pediatric gastroenterologists. There were significant differences between the four groups of HCPs in terms of the subsections on overall mean score, epidemiology and clinical presentation, treatment and follow-up. There was no significant difference between the groups (patients with CD, mothers of patients with CD and fathers of patients with CD) in terms of the questionnaire subsections.
Research conclusions
The level of knowledge on CD among HCPs, patients and their caregivers was unsatisfactory. We consider that it is necessary to increase awareness and to develop e-learning activities on CD among HCPs, patients and their caregivers. They may benefit from e-learning programs similar to the one created as part of the EU-funded project Focus IN CD (https://www.celiacfacts.eu/focusincd-en). A higher level of knowledge will substantially reduce the number of undiagnosed patients, allow for earlier diagnosis, and improve the quality of life.
Research perspectives
According to the current study, we believe that patients, their caregivers, and HCPs may benefit from e-learning programs similar to the one created as part of the EU-funded project Focus IN CD (https://www.celiacfacts.eu/focusincd-en).
