Ethical awareness and issues in gastrointestinal endoscopy practice: A survey study

BACKGROUND: Gastrointestinal endoscopy technology has significantly improved the diagnostic accuracy and the successful treatment of gastrointestinal diseases. However, a series of ethical issues have emerged, such as expanding treatment indications, which affect the fair distribution of medical resources. There is limited research on ethical issues in the field of digestive endoscopy. AIM: To investigate the level of ethical awareness among gastrointestinal endoscopy practitioners and analyze the ethical issues involved in gastrointestinal endoscopy technology. METHODS: A questionnaire survey was performed to collect relevant data (gender, age, degree of education, professional title, personnel category, the level of understanding medical ethical principles, ethics training and its learning pathways) from gastrointestinal endoscopy practitioners at the Second Hospital of Dalian Medical University and Dalian Friendship Hospital, including licensed physicians and nurses (including trainees and graduate students). RESULTS: The majority of gastrointestinal endoscopy practitioners have received training on ethics, but there is still considerable room for improvement in their ethical awareness. Different learning pathways may affect the mastery of ethical principles, and understanding of ethical principles is more easily achieved through hospital ethics institutions. CONCLUSION: To address the ethical issues in gastrointestinal endoscopy technology, it is necessary to enhance the humanistic education of gastrointestinal endoscopy practitioners, incorporate ethical standards into the technology assessment process, and establish a patient-centered diagnostic and treatment model to improve the ethical awareness of practitioners and achieve a balance between technology and ethics.