Mortality in anorexia nervosa – a look back at and beyond one of the most cited papers in the field

Mortality in anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa: A population-based cohort study in Taiwan, 2002-2017

OBJECTIVE

To investigate natural- and unnatural-cause mortality at different follow-up time points in Taiwanese patients with anorexia nervosa (AN) and bulimia nervosa (BN).

METHOD

In this longitudinal cohort study, 330,393 patients, including 2143 patients with AN, 13,590 with BN, and 20 times as many respective non-AN and non-BN patients, were followed up for 16 years. We performed conditional Cox regression survival analysis to examine the risk of mortality in the AN and BN groups relative to the comparison group.

RESULTS

A total of 1242 patients died, including 101 and 343 patients with AN and BN, respectively. Mortality rates for AN and BN were 5.42 and 2.90 deaths per 1000 person-years, respectively. Compared with the non-AN group, the AN group had a significantly higher risk of both natural- and unnatural-cause mortality, and the BN group had a significantly higher risk of unnatural-cause mortality. Suicide was the most common cause of death, and suicide risk was significantly higher in both the AN and BN groups. All-cause mortality risk was the highest at the beginning of follow-up and markedly declined in the AN group. In the BN group, all-cause mortality risk was lower but stable at follow-up. The risk of unnatural-cause mortality remained high throughout the follow-up period for both the groups.

CONCLUSIONS

Early detection and treatment for associated physical problems in patients with AN are crucial. Regular monitoring for unnatural-cause mortality events (mainly suicide) in AN and BN over time is also crucial.

PUBLIC SIGNIFICANCE

AN had a significantly higher risk of both natural- and unnatural-cause mortality and BN had a significantly higher risk of death from unnatural causes. All-cause mortality risk was highest at the beginning of follow-up in AN, but unnatural-cause mortality risk remained high throughout the follow-up period for both groups. Our findings imply that early detection and treatment in AN and regular monitoring for unnatural-cause mortality events in AN and BN are crucial.

Internet-based cognitive behavior therapy for eating disorders - Development and feasibility evaluation

BACKGROUND

Eating disorders (ED) are severe psychiatric conditions, characterized by decreased quality of life and high mortality. However, only a minority of patients with ED seek care and very few receive treatment. Internet-delivered cognitive behavioral therapy (ICBT) has the potential to increase access to evidence-based treatments.

AIMS

The aims of the present study were to (1) develop and evaluate the usability of an Internet-delivered guided self-help treatment based on Enhanced Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (ICBT-E) for patients with full or subthreshold bulimia nervosa (BN) or binge eating disorder (BED) with a user centered design process, and (2) to evaluate its feasibility and preliminary outcome in a clinical environment.

METHOD

The study was undertaken in two stages. In Stage I, a user-centered design approach was applied with iterative phases of prototype development and evaluation. Participants were eight clinicians and 30 individuals with current or previous history of ED. In Stage II, 41 patients with full or subthreshold BN or BED were recruited to a single-group open trial to evaluate the feasibility and preliminary outcome of ICBT-E. Primary outcome variables were diagnostic status and self-rated ED symptoms.

RESULTS

The user-centered design process was instrumental in the development of the ICBT-E, by contributing to improvements of the program and to the content being adapted to the needs and preferences of end-users. The overall usability of the program was found to be good. ICBT-E targets key maintaining factors in ED by introducing healthy eating patterns and addressing over-evaluation of weight and shape. The results indicate that ICBT-E, delivered in a clinical setting, is a feasible and promising treatment for full or subthreshold BN or BED, with a high level of acceptability observed and treatment completion of 73.2 %. Participation in ICBT-E was associated with significant symptom reductions in core ED symptomology, functional impairment as well as depressive symptoms, and the results were maintained at the 3-month follow-up.

CONCLUSIONS

ICBT-E was developed with end-users' preferences in mind, in accordance with the identified recommendations, and the program was perceived as usable by end-users. The study demonstrated the potential of ICBT-E, which marks a step forward in the effort to make powerful, empirically supported psychological interventions targeting ED more widely available and accessible.

Disordered Eating, Body Image Dissatisfaction, and Associated Healthcare Utilization Patterns for Sexual Minority Youth

PURPOSE

To determine the prevalence of disordered eating behaviors (DEBs) and body image dissatisfaction (BID) according to sexual minority youth (SMY) status and describe healthcare utilization patterns by SMY status.

METHODS

Retrospective data from 107,528 adolescents, who had a Well Check in Kaiser Permanente Northern California in 2016, were used to compare DEB and BID by SMY status. Multivariate logistic models were used to examine the associations of SMY, birth-assigned sex, age, race/ethnicity, and body mass index on DEB and BID. The utilization of specialized eating disorder (ED) medical and mental health services and general mental health services was described at one Kaiser Permanente Northern California facility.

RESULTS

BID was reported in 20,763 (19.3%) adolescents, DEB in 1,458 (1.7%) adolescents, and 5,363 (5%) adolescents identified as SMY. SMY had higher odds of having DEB and BID than non-SMY, respectively (adjusted odds ratio 2.0 95% confidence interval [1.9-2.2] and adjusted odds ratio 3.8 [3.4-4.2]). Regardless of SMY status, adolescents with older age, female sex, nonwhite race, and elevated body mass index had higher odds of ED risk factors. SMY with ED risk factors had higher ED medical utilization than non-SMY with ED risk factors (4.6% vs. 1.6%). However, SMY status was not associated with utilization of specialized ED mental health services.

CONCLUSIONS

SMY had increased rates of DEB and BID but had underutilization of specialized ED mental health services. Future targeted efforts to prevent eating disorder-related mortality and morbidity for SMY should include targeted eating disorder screening and referral to specialized ED medical and mental health services.