Australasian paediatric gastroenterologist practices of coeliac disease diagnosis before and during the COVID‐19 pandemic

AIM: To explore the perceptions and practices of Australasian paediatric gastroenterologists in diagnosing coeliac disease (CD) before and during the COVID‐19 pandemic. METHODS: Paediatric gastroenterologists in Australasia were invited via email to complete an anonymous online questionnaire over a 2‐week period in 2021. RESULTS: The questionnaire was completed by 39 respondents: 33 from Australia and six from New Zealand (NZ) equating to a 66% response rate. Thirty‐four (87%) of the 39 respondents reported they currently practised non‐biopsy diagnosis of CD in eligible children, while the rest diagnosed CD using biopsy confirmation only. All NZ respondents practised non‐biopsy CD diagnosis. A majority of responders (76%) who practised non‐biopsy CD diagnosis followed the 2020 European Society for Paediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition (ESPGHAN) guidelines. Twenty‐two (56%) respondents reported that they started using a non‐biopsy CD diagnosis protocol before the pandemic and did not change their practice during the pandemic, 10 (26%) started diagnosing non‐biopsy CD during the pandemic, 5 (13%) stated their practices of CD were not impacted by the pandemic and 2 (5%) did not respond on whether the pandemic changed their practice. CONCLUSION: The majority of Australasian gastroenterologist respondents reported they routinely utilised the 2020 ESPGHAN diagnostic criteria in eligible children; half of them started prior to the pandemic and another quarter started this approach due to the pandemic. A minority of practitioners routinely rely only on biopsy confirmation to diagnose CD.