HMO-1 Variation in IBD care and education across Europe results from a pan-European survey

Background2.5 million people in Europe are diagnosed with IBD. IBD affects quality of life, but also has important consequences for health systems. It remains unknown if there are variations in IBD care across Europe and to help address this question, we conducted this European Variation In ibd PracticE suRvey (VIPER) to study potential differences.MethodsThis trainee-initiated survey, run through SurveyMonkey®, consisted of 47 questions inquiring basic demographics, IBD training and clinical care. The survey was distributed through social media and national GI societies from December 2020 - January 2021. Results were compared according to GDP per capita, for which countries were divided into 2 groups (low/high income, according to the World Bank).ResultsThere were 1268 participants from 39 European countries. Most of the participants are specialists (65.3%), followed by fellows in training (>/< 3 years, 19.1%, 15.6%). Majority of the responders are working in academic institutions (50.4%), others in public/district hospitals (33.3%) or private practices (16.3%).Despite significant differences in access to IBD-specific training between high (56.4%) and low (38.5%) GDP countries (p