Ethical considerations within the ESPGHAN community

There are limited data on ethical issues related to the daily practice of members of the European Society for Pediatric Gastroenterology Hepatology and Nutrition (ESPGHAN). The role of the ESPGHAN Ethics Committee is to provide advice on such matters to its members. The present survey aimed to evaluate the current function, and reasons that ESPGHAN members consulted the Ethics Committees. 105 participants from 24 different countries answered the questionnaire. 35,7% of the participants used the ESGHAN Ethics Committee to ask about clinical practice problems and patients-related issues whereas 21,4% asking about human research questions. An important additional finding was that 66,3% of respondents consulted their Hospital's Ethics Committee when they had ethical concerns and 17,4% consulted with other colleagues with expertise. This is the first survey in the ESPGHAN and Europe that analyses ethical issues that are important to members of the National Societies for Pediatric Gastroenterology Hepatology and Nutrition.