Arcelus

Disclosure and Pathways to Treatment in Eating Disorders

Andrea 7 Comments

We hear a fair bit about the length of time it can take to access eating disorder treatment. Delays are particularly distressing as the evidence points to better outcomes for those who receive timely care for their eating disorders (e.g. Treasure & Russell, 2011). We know about some of the potential barriers to care for eating disorders, including the lack of specialized services, the stereotypes and stigma that can impede formal and informal help-seeking, and the financial costs of seeking care not always covered by insurance. However, we know less about when people with eating disorders disclose their struggles, who they disclose to, and how this impacts their path to care.

When I was searching for articles related to treatment access for eating disorders, I came across a preliminary study published in 2012 by Gilbert and colleagues investigating disclosure of eating disorders and subsequent pathways to care. Because … Continue reading →

A Meta-Analysis of Mortality in Eating Disorders

Tetyana

You often hear that anorexia nervosa has the highest mortality rate of any psychiatric illness, but you might struggle to find the rates for bulimia nervosa or EDNOS. Even for AN, the most common cause of death is rarely reported and the reported rates often vary a lot (depending on the study (and the media outlet).

I wanted to find out what are: (1) the mortality rates in BN and EDNOS and (2) the common causes of death in these disorders.  A relatively recent meta-analysis (click here for some background, pros and cons of meta-analyses) of 36 studies, which addressed some of my questions, was published by Arcelus and colleagues.

They excluded studies that had less than 15 patients and/or <1-year follow-up.

SO, WHAT DID THEY FIND?

Mortality in Anorexia Nervosa:

  • 35 studies, mean follow-up time: 12.8 years (maximum 36.2), mean sample size was 361 (maximum 6009).
  • Total
… Continue reading →