PTU-015 Patient perspective on the tolerance of gastroscopy

Introduction The degree of tolerance patients have for gastroscopy may be less than the endoscopist believes. We therefore present a questionnaire study of patients undergoing oesophagogastroduodenoscopy (OGD) in an endoscopy centre to determine what this difference may be. Method A close ended questionnaire was given to patients attending adult outpatient OGD between November 2016 and January 2017. The patients’ Gloucester Comfort Score (GCS), was recorded as was the endoscopist rating score. Doctors were not aware of the GCS given by patients nor that the data was to be collected for comparison. All patients were offered the choice of sedation with fentanyl and midazolam. Results Questionnaires were completed by 65 patients: 30 female (median: 60 years±13.5 years), 35 male (median: 60±16.5 years). 18.5% reported no pain, 36.9% minimal discomfort, 23.1% mild discomfort, 18.5% moderate discomfort and 3.1% severe discomfort. Sedation was administered in 39% patients.There was no significant difference in reported scores based on sex (p=0.283), age (p=0.202) or whether they were sedated (p=0.107). Endoscopists rated 43% of procedures good, 29.2% acceptable, 3% poor and 0% not tolerated. There was a moderate correlation (r s =0.413, p=0.001) between the endoscopist rating and the patients GCS. Conclusion Although there was some correlation, a fifth of patients still reported moderate to severe pain during OGD which was not identified by endoscopists. This difference highlights how the tolerability of this routine procedure may be perceived differently by patients and endoscopists. Disclosure of Interest None Declared