UCL Discovery
UCL home » Library Services » Electronic resources » UCL Discovery

Early weight gain trajectories in first episode anorexia: predictors of outcome for emerging adults in outpatient treatment

Austin, A; Flynn, M; Richards, KL; Sharpe, H; Allen, KL; Mountford, VA; Glennon, D; ... Schmidt, U; + view all (2021) Early weight gain trajectories in first episode anorexia: predictors of outcome for emerging adults in outpatient treatment. Journal of Eating Disorders , 9 (1) , Article 112. 10.1186/s40337-021-00448-y. Green open access

[thumbnail of Serpell_40337_2021_Article_448.pdf]
Preview
Text
Serpell_40337_2021_Article_448.pdf - Published Version

Download (667kB) | Preview

Abstract

Background Early response to treatment has been shown to be a predictor of later clinical outcomes in eating disorders (EDs). Specifically, early weight gain trajectories in anorexia nervosa (AN) have been shown to predict higher rates of later remission in inpatient treatment. However, no study has, as of yet, examined this phenomenon within outpatient treatment of first episode cases of AN or in emerging adults. Methods One hundred seven patients with AN, all between the ages of 16 and 25 and with an illness duration of < 3 years, received treatment via the first episode rapid early intervention in eating disorders (FREED) service pathway. Weight was recorded routinely across early treatment sessions and recovery outcomes (BMI > 18.5 kg/m2 and eating psychopathology) were assessed up to 1 year later. Early weight gain across the first 12 treatment sessions was investigated using latent growth mixture modelling to determine distinct classes of change. Follow-up clinical outcomes and remission rates were compared between classes, and individual and clinical characteristics at baseline (treatment start) were tested as potential predictors. Results Four classes of early treatment trajectory were identified. Three of these classes (n = 95), though differing in their early change trajectories, showed substantial improvement in clinical outcomes at final follow-up. One smaller class (n = 12), characterised by a ‘higher’ start BMI (> 17) and no early weight gain, showed negligible improvement 1 year later. Of the three treatment responding groups, levels of purging, depression, and patient reported carer expressed emotion (in the form of high expectations and low tolerance of the patient) determined class membership, although these findings were not significant after correcting for multiple testing. A higher BMI at treatment start was not sufficient to predict optimal clinical outcomes. Conclusion First episode cases of AN treated via FREED fit into four distinct early response trajectory classes. These may represent subtypes of first episode AN patients. Three of these four trajectories included patients with substantial improvements 1 year later. For those in the non-response trajectory class, treatment adjustments or augmentations could be considered earlier, i.e., at treatment session 12.

Type: Article
Title: Early weight gain trajectories in first episode anorexia: predictors of outcome for emerging adults in outpatient treatment
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
DOI: 10.1186/s40337-021-00448-y
Publisher version: https://doi.org/10.1186/s40337-021-00448-y
Language: English
Additional information: This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated in a credit line to the data.
Keywords: Social Sciences, Science & Technology, Life Sciences & Biomedicine, Psychology, Clinical, Nutrition & Dietetics, Psychiatry, Psychology, Anorexia nervosa, Eating disorder, Early intervention, Outpatient, Treatment, Growth mixture modelling, EATING-DISORDERS, THERAPY, NERVOSA
UCL classification: UCL
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences > Div of Psychology and Lang Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences > Div of Psychology and Lang Sciences > Clinical, Edu and Hlth Psychology
URI: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10135267
Downloads since deposit
23Downloads
Download activity - last month
Download activity - last 12 months
Downloads by country - last 12 months

Archive Staff Only

View Item View Item