Qin Y, Shi MY. Ethical awareness and issues in gastrointestinal endoscopy practice: A survey study. World J Gastroenterol 2026; 32(1): 111986 [DOI: 10.3748/wjg.v32.i1.111986]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Ming-Yang Shi, PhD, Department of Discipline Inspection, The Second Hospital of Dalian Medical University, No. 467 Zhongshan Road, Shahekou District, Dalian 116023, Liaoning Province, China. shimingyang7626@163.com
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Ethics
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Observational Study
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This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Jan 7, 2026 (publication date) through Jan 12, 2026
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Publication Name
World Journal of Gastroenterology
ISSN
1007-9327
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Baishideng Publishing Group Inc, 7041 Koll Center Parkway, Suite 160, Pleasanton, CA 94566, USA
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Qin Y, Shi MY. Ethical awareness and issues in gastrointestinal endoscopy practice: A survey study. World J Gastroenterol 2026; 32(1): 111986 [DOI: 10.3748/wjg.v32.i1.111986]
World J Gastroenterol. Jan 7, 2026; 32(1): 111986 Published online Jan 7, 2026. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v32.i1.111986
Ethical awareness and issues in gastrointestinal endoscopy practice: A survey study
Yi Qin, Ming-Yang Shi
Yi Qin, Ethic Office, Dalian Municipal Friendship Hospital, Dalian 116100, Liaoning Province, China
Yi Qin, Ming-Yang Shi, Faculty of Medical Humanities, China Medical University, Shenyang 110122, Liaoning Province, China
Ming-Yang Shi, Department of Discipline Inspection, The Second Hospital of Dalian Medical University, Dalian 116023, Liaoning Province, China
Author contributions: Qin Y and Shi MY contributed equally to this work; Shi MY conceptualized and designed the study, searched and reviewed published articles, critically reviewed the original manuscript; Qin Y wrote the original manuscript. All authors approved the submitted version.
Institutional review board statement: The questionnaire and methodology for this study was approved by the Ethics Committee of the Dalian Friendship Hospital (Ethics approval number: LL-2024-051-01).
Informed consent statement: This study was a cross-sectional questionnaire survey conducted among gastrointestinal endoscopy practitioners (licensed physicians, nurses, trainees and graduate students) from the Second Hospital of Dalian Medical University and Dalian Friendship Hospital. The objectives, procedures and potential benefits of the study were fully explained to all participants. Participation was voluntary and anonymous; declining to participate or withdrawing at any stage would not affect the participants’ employment, training status or any other rights. All questionnaires were completed without collection of personally identifiable information. The study protocol was reviewed and approved by the Ethics Committees institutions. Written informed consent was obtained from every participant prior to questionnaire administration.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.
STROBE statement: The authors have read the STROBE Statement-checklist of items, and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the STROBE Statement-checklist of items.
Data sharing statement: Individual participant data collected in this study (fully de-identified questionnaire responses) can be made available upon reasonable request.
Open Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Ming-Yang Shi, PhD, Department of Discipline Inspection, The Second Hospital of Dalian Medical University, No. 467 Zhongshan Road, Shahekou District, Dalian 116023, Liaoning Province, China. shimingyang7626@163.com
Received: July 15, 2025 Revised: August 21, 2025 Accepted: November 17, 2025 Published online: January 7, 2026 Processing time: 174 Days and 16.1 Hours
Abstract
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.
Core Tip: This study conducted a survey and analysis of the ethical awareness status of gastrointestinal endoscopy practitioners using a questionnaire. The results have shown that although most practitioners have received ethics training, there is still a significant room for improvement in their ethical awareness, learning through hospital ethics institutions is found to be a most effective way to improve the understanding of medical ethics principles. This study emphasizes the importance of strengthening the humanistic education of practitioners, incorporating ethical standards into the technical evaluation process, and constructing a patient-centered diagnosis and treatment model to achieve a balance between technology and ethics.
