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The Impact of COVID-19 on Gastrointestinal Motility Testing in Asia and Europe

Mori H 1 , Schol J 1 , Geeraerts A 1 , Huang IH 1 , Jandee S 1 , Gonlachanvit S 2 Show all authors , Tseng PH 3 , Lu CL 4 , Kamiya T 5 , Kim N 6 , Lee YY 7 , Kuribayashi S 8 , Tack J 1 , Suzuki H 9

Affiliations 

  • 1 Department of Chronic Diseases, Metabolism and Ageing, Translational Research Center for Gastrointestinal Diseases (TARGID), University of Leuven, 3000 Leuven, Belgium
  • 2 Center of Excellence on Neurogastroenterology and Motility, Faculty of Medicine, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok 10330, Thailand
  • 3 Department of Internal Medicine, National Taiwan University Hospital, Taipei 100, Taiwan
  • 4 Endoscopy Center for Diagnosis and Treatment, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei 112, Taiwan
  • 5 Department of Medical Innovation, Nagoya City University Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Nagoya 467-8601, Japan
  • 6 Department of Internal Medicine and Liver Research Institute, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul 03080, Korea
  • 7 School of Medical Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Kota Bharu 15200, Malaysia
  • 8 Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Gunma University Graduate School of Medicine, Maebashi 371-8511, Japan
  • 9 Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Department of Internal Medicine, Tokai University School of Medicine, Isehara 259-1193, Japan
J Clin Med, 2020 Oct 01;9(10).
PMID: 33019626 DOI: 10.3390/jcm9103189

Abstract

BACKGROUND: The new coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has high infection and mortality rates, and has become a pandemic. The infection and mortality rates are lower in Asian countries than in European countries. This study aimed to conduct a survey on the effects of COVID-19 on the capacity to perform gastrointestinal motility tests in Asian countries compared with European countries.

METHODS: We used the questionnaire previously established by our team for researchers in European countries. The correlation between the decreased rate of gastrointestinal motility and function tests, and the infection/mortality rates of COVID-19 and stringency of a government's interventions in each country was analysed and protective measures were assessed.

RESULTS: In total, 58 gastroenterologists/motility experts in Asian countries responded to this survey. The infection/mortality rates of COVID-19 and Stringency Index had a significant impact on the testing capacity of oesophageal manometry and catheter-based pH monitoring. In European countries, most facilities used filtering facepiece 2/3 (FFP2/3) masks during oesophageal motility studies. Meanwhile, in Asian countries, most facilities used surgical masks.

CONCLUSION: The total infection and mortality rates of COVID-19 can affect the rate of gastrointestinal motility testing and the type of protective equipment that must be used.

* Title and MeSH Headings from MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.

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