Wakefield Research surveyed 500 gastroenterologists on the future of the specialty. Here are five insights into the survey:
Note: The survey was commissioned by Salix Pharmaceuticals.
1. GIs believe several diseases will see large increases in the next 30 years:
- Irritable bowel syndrome with constipation or diarrhea: 27 percent
- Inflammatory bowel disease: 26 percent
- Constipation: 18 percent
- Fatty liver disease: 17 percent
- Colon cancer: 12 percent
2. Forty-three percent of GIs believe they'll perform the same amount of diagnostic colonoscopies over the next five years, as they have the last five years. Grouping results, 22 percent of GIs believe they'll perform more diagnostic colonoscopies and 35 percent believe they'll perform fewer diagnostic colonoscopies within the same survey parameters.
3. Eighty-eight percent of GIs believe the majority of colonoscopies performed in the next five years will be for therapeutic purposes and not diagnostic.
4. Ninety-nine percent of surveyed GIs believe one of the following methods will replace diagnostic colonoscopy:
- Virtual colonoscopy via CT scan: 59 percent
- GI-MAP DNA stool analysis: 56 percent
- Data-driven predictive algorithms: 49 percent
- Traditional stool sample analysis: 17 percent
- Blood sample analysis: 12 percent
5. Eighty-six percent of GIs believe artificial intelligence will affect gastroenterology and play a role in diagnostic or imaging procedures.