Cohort Studies and Audits | European Society of Coloproctology

Cohort Studies & Audits

Multicentre snap-shot prospective audits have the power to bring together surgeons and units across multiple regions or countries for a common research goal, thus strengthening an active network of research participation across Europe and beyond.

We are expanding ESCP's remit by encouraging perspective cohort studies and have set up a Cohort Studies Sub-Committee, co-ordinating annual snap-shot audits.

Multicentre snap-shot audits provide a superb opportunity to generate large datasets on surgical interventions and their outcomes without many of the hurdles of performing a randomised controlled trial (RCT), and at a fraction of the cost and time investment.

There is a particular need for surgeons to engage in high quality prospective studies of this type to bridge the current gulf between a paucity of RCTs (some of which are themselves of dubious quality) and the over-abundance of level IV evidence derived from personal case series and poor quality cohort studies.

Thus far, the ESCP has adopted a strategy of promoting short duration, high volume prospective audits (termed snap-shot audits) and these have been hugely successful (see below).

It is, however, an ambition of the research committee that before 2020, the ESCP will identify and promote at least two major prospective cohort studies with sufficient patient-level follow up to derive meaningful functional outcomes for colorectal interventions with uncertain (inadequate or contradictory) clinical effectiveness. Such outcomes will ideally cross-reference to ESCP development work in core outcome sets, especially patient-reported outcome measures (PROMS).

How do I get involved?

Almost everyone who performs common colorectal interventions can join in this important ESCP research initiative.
No expertise or prior experience are required
Snap-shot audits require very little additional work and even the busiest surgeon can help (in fact it is the busiest surgeons we want!)
To start, consider the available studies linked to below and sign up to a study when they become open
Please register here for updates on future ESCP cohort studies and audits

2019 Management of Acute Severe Ulcerative Colitis (MASC) Audit

The ESCP 2019 multicentre, pan-European audit will focus on the management of patients with acute severe ulcerative colitis. The audit will be delivered by a collaboration between colorectal surgeons and gastroenterologists.

The objective of the audit will be to explore variabilities in the medical and surgical management of acute severe ulcerative colitis and to determine its apparent impact on patient-level outcomes. Secondarily, the parameters that predict which patients may benefit from medical salvage therapy and who are likely to need colectomy will be assessed.

The data obtained about areas of variability in provision or practice, and how this may impact upon outcomes, will allow international benchmarking to improve the standard of care provided to this patient group, as well as generating hypotheses and inform future randomised research.

Find out how to get involved in this study here