A Treat-to-Target Approach in IBD: Contemporary Real-World Perspectives from an International Survey.

Background/

Objectives

The management of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) varies due to differences in healthcare systems, treatment costs, access to diagnostics, and diverse clinical practices between specialists. Despite the frequent advocacy of a treat-to-target (T2T) approach, there is insufficient clarity on how clinicians implement T2T in real-world settings. We aim to conduct a large, global survey among IBD experts to identify current practices in management.

Methods

A prospective, cross-sectional study was conducted using a 16-item survey divided into two sections-for ulcerative colitis (UC) and Crohn's disease (CD)-and distributed to practicing IBD clinicians.

Results

A total of 261 respondents from 88 countries participated in the survey, with the majority (253/261) being physicians and eight being IBD nurse specialists. Despite global guidance, only a quarter of the respondents routinely perform an endoscopy to assess the response after starting an advanced therapy (28.4% in UC vs. 23.5% in CD). Moreover, despite an increasing academic focus on intestinal ultrasound (IUS), 171 (66%) of respondents in UC and 132 (51%) in CD reported that they do not routinely undertake IUS to guide treatment decisions. Faecal calprotectin for monitoring treatment response was routinely used by 87% (90% in UC and 84% in CD) of the respondents. Forty-five percent reported use of therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) both proactively and reactively and 35% reported only using TDM reactively.

Conclusions

Our study shows considerable variation in IBD management across different countries and interpretation of the T2T approach. This highlights the need for standardised and pragmatic guidelines to help improve outcomes for patients with IBD globally.