TY - JOUR
T1 - The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on referral numbers, diagnostic mix, and symptom severity in Eating Disorder Early Intervention Services in England
AU - Hyam, Lucy
AU - Richards, Katie L.
AU - Allen, Karina L.
AU - Schmidt, Ulrike
N1 - Funding Information:
NHS Innovation Accelerator (NIA) Fellowship; National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Biomedical Research Centre; Health Foundation Funding information
Funding Information:
KR received support from a PhD studentship from the Health Foundation. KA received support from an NHS Innovation Accelerator (NIA) Fellowship. US received salary support from the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Biomedical Research Centre at South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust (SLaM) and King's College London (KCL). The views expressed are the authors' own and do not necessarily reflect those of the NHS, the NIHR or the Department of Health. The authors would like to thank FREED services for their contribution and the Academic Health Science Network (AHSN) for their support in the national scaling of FREED.
Funding Information:
KR received support from a PhD studentship from the Health Foundation. KA received support from an NHS Innovation Accelerator (NIA) Fellowship. US received salary support from the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Biomedical Research Centre at South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust (SLaM) and King's College London (KCL). The views expressed are the authors' own and do not necessarily reflect those of the NHS, the NIHR or the Department of Health. The authors would like to thank FREED services for their contribution and the Academic Health Science Network (AHSN) for their support in the national scaling of FREED.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 The Authors. International Journal of Eating Disorders published by Wiley Periodicals LLC.
PY - 2023/1
Y1 - 2023/1
N2 - Objective: First Episode Rapid Early Intervention for Eating Disorders (FREED) is a service model and care pathway which aims to provide timely, well-coordinated, developmentally informed and evidence-based care for young people with eating disorders (EDs). This article investigates the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on FREED patient presentations and service provision in England. Method: Data from three services spanning the pre- to post-pandemic period were included (January 2019–September 2021; n = 502 patients). Run charts were created to analyze changes in monthly baseline patient data (e.g., referral numbers, duration of an untreated ED, diagnostic mix, and average body mass index for patients with anorexia nervosa [AN]). Results: Significant increases in referral numbers were found from September 2020 onward, coinciding with the end of the first UK national lockdown. The percentage of AN presentations significantly increased after the onset of the first national lockdown (April 2020–December 2020). No other significant change patterns were identified. Discussion: There have been substantial increases in referral numbers and presentations of AN to FREED services whereas illness severity seems largely unchanged. Together, this suggests that increased referrals cannot be attributed to milder presentations being seen. Implications for the implementation, funding, and sustainability of the model are discussed. Public Significance: Our research suggests that early intervention eating disorder services across England faced significant increases in patient referrals and presentations of anorexia nervosa over the COVID-19 pandemic. This increase in referrals is not due to a rise in milder eating disorder cases, as baseline symptom severity remained stable across the pandemic. Investment in early intervention for eating disorders must therefore match increased referral trends.
AB - Objective: First Episode Rapid Early Intervention for Eating Disorders (FREED) is a service model and care pathway which aims to provide timely, well-coordinated, developmentally informed and evidence-based care for young people with eating disorders (EDs). This article investigates the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on FREED patient presentations and service provision in England. Method: Data from three services spanning the pre- to post-pandemic period were included (January 2019–September 2021; n = 502 patients). Run charts were created to analyze changes in monthly baseline patient data (e.g., referral numbers, duration of an untreated ED, diagnostic mix, and average body mass index for patients with anorexia nervosa [AN]). Results: Significant increases in referral numbers were found from September 2020 onward, coinciding with the end of the first UK national lockdown. The percentage of AN presentations significantly increased after the onset of the first national lockdown (April 2020–December 2020). No other significant change patterns were identified. Discussion: There have been substantial increases in referral numbers and presentations of AN to FREED services whereas illness severity seems largely unchanged. Together, this suggests that increased referrals cannot be attributed to milder presentations being seen. Implications for the implementation, funding, and sustainability of the model are discussed. Public Significance: Our research suggests that early intervention eating disorder services across England faced significant increases in patient referrals and presentations of anorexia nervosa over the COVID-19 pandemic. This increase in referrals is not due to a rise in milder eating disorder cases, as baseline symptom severity remained stable across the pandemic. Investment in early intervention for eating disorders must therefore match increased referral trends.
KW - COVID-19
KW - early intervention
KW - eating disorder services
KW - feeding and eating disorders
KW - national health services
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85140262971&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1002/eat.23836
DO - 10.1002/eat.23836
M3 - Article
C2 - 36271511
AN - SCOPUS:85140262971
SN - 0276-3478
VL - 56
SP - 269
EP - 275
JO - International Journal of Eating Disorders
JF - International Journal of Eating Disorders
IS - 1
ER -
