P637 - DO DIETITIANS REQUIRE TAILORED ESPEN GUIDELINES? INSIGHTS FROM A EUROPEAN SURVEY

P637

DO DIETITIANS REQUIRE TAILORED ESPEN GUIDELINES? INSIGHTS FROM A EUROPEAN SURVEY

S. U. Olsen¹, K. Hesseberg¹, S. Irving², H. Jager-Wittenaar³, E. Rothenberg⁴, D. Vranesic Bender^5,*, A. van Ginkel-Res⁶, S. Stove Lorentzen⁷

¹Department of Medical Services, Diakonhjemmet Hospital, Oslo, Norway, ²Clinical Nutrition, Department of Medicine, Instituto Português de Oncologia, Porto, Portugal, ³Groningen, the Netherlands Radboud University Medical Center, Hanze University of Applied Sciences,, Nijmegen, Netherlands, ⁴Kristianstad University, Faculty of Health Sciences, Kristianstad, Sweden, ⁵Department of Internal Medicine, Unit of Clinical Nutrition, University Hospital Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia, ⁶EFAD, Amsterdam, Netherlands, ⁷Department of Medicine, Lovisenberg Diaconal Hospital, Oslo, Norway

Rationale: The European Society for Clinical Nutrition and Metabolism (ESPEN) provides valuable, evidence-based recommendations for clinical nutrition. An addendum specifically tailored for dietitians may help to bridge the gap between these established guidelines and routine clinical dietetic practice. The  European Federation of the Associations of Dietitians (EFAD) conducted a survey to assess the perceived need for such an addendum which could offer supplementary information relevant to daily dietetic practice.

Methods: A survey among European dietitians was conducted using snowball sampling to ensure diversity across countries, areas of professional practice and education level.

Results: The survey, conducted between June and September 2024, recruited 432 respondents from 29 countries. Several responders worked in more than one setting, but dominantly in public health care settings. Participants ranged in age from 25 to 64 years; 14% held a doctoral degree, 50% a master’s degree, and 35% a bachelor’s degree. Dietitians reported working across multiple areas of clinical practice. The most common areas included obesity, weight management (48%), oncology (42%), gastroenterology (41%). All responders reported using ESPEN guidelines, and the most commonly used were those on Clinical Nutrition in cancer (54%), hospital nutrition (50%), and Clinical nutrition in inflammatory bowel disease (46%). Of the 432 respondents who answered the question regarding the need for an addendum, 94% expressed a desire for practical guidance to accompany the original ESPEN guidelines.

Conclusion: The findings indicate strong support for the development of an addendum to the ESPEN original scientific guidelines. Such addition may enhance the accessibility, clinical applicability, and relevance of the guidelines for dietitians in everyday practice and broaden the influence of ESPEN in the dietetic community, ultimately improving patient care.

Disclosure of Interest: None declared