Korean J Neurogastroenterol Motil.
2009 Jun;15(1):9-14.
The Status of the Gastrointestinal Motility Test in Korea
- Affiliations
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- 1Department of Internal Medicine, Kosin University College of Medicine, Busan, Korea.
- 2Department of Internal Medicine, Kangbuk Samsung Hospital, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea. chongil.sohn@samsung.com
Abstract
- Collecting baseline information on how laboratories perform gastrointestinal motility testing is a reasonable first step towards establishing intra- and inter-laboratory standardization and quality control standards. A nationwide survey of laboratories where gastrointestinal motility tests are performed was carried out. A questionnaire, composed of 17 questions covering the main aspects of gastrointestinal motility tests, was distributed to 127 teaching hospitals from August 2008 to April 2009. Sixty-five hospitals responded. Of these, 46 hospitals performed gastrointestinal motility testing and the relevant staff completed the questionnaires. The number of laboratories per million persons was 0.94 with an even distribution according to administrative districts. In 2007, the number of laboratories performing gastrointestinal motility testing was 41 for esophageal manometry, 39 for esophageal pH monitoring, 38 for anorectal manometry, 30 for biofeedback therapy, 12 for electrogastrography, seven for gastroduodenal manometry, and three for breath hydrogen test. In total, 56 nurses and 12 technicians performed the tests. Registration of the gastrointestinal motility laboratories is needed for the standardization of the gastrointestinal motility tests with acceptable quality controls in Korea.
