COVID-19 and eating disorder and mental health concerns in patients with eating disorders (original) (raw)
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COVID-19’s Impact on Eating Disorder and Mental Health Concerns in Patients with Eating Disorders
Research Square (Research Square), 2021
Background The Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic dramatically transformed daily life for adolescents and young adults, altering social and physical environments. Previous research has shown such shifts in daily life to be especially challenging for people living with eating disorders (ED). However, the extent of this environmental change on ED symptoms and mental health (MH) has been relatively unexplored in patients with EDs. This study examines the implications of the COVID-19 pandemic on ED and MH symptoms and motivation for ED recovery in adolescents/young adults. Methods Participants were enrollees in the Registry of Eating Disorders and their Co-morbidities OVER time in Youth (RECOVERY) who responded to an additional survey (n = 89) in July 2020 to assess the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Participants reported concerns of their ED worsening due to living in a "triggering environment" due to the pandemic as well as COVID-related changes in intrusive ED thoughts, depression, anxiety, isolation, and motivation to recover. Logistic regression models, adjusted for age and ED diagnosis, examined the association of triggering environment with MH and ED symptoms. Results The majority of respondents reported concern for "triggering environment" (63%), as well as increased ED thoughts (74%) and feelings of anxiety (77%), depression (73%), and isolation (80%) in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Nearly one-third reported decrease in motivation to recover (29%). After adjusting for age and ED diagnosis, participants who reported triggering environment had nearly 18 times the odds of decreased motivation to recover (OR 18.1; 95% CI 3.37-97.4, p = 0.003) and nearly 24 times the odds of increased ED thoughts (OR 23.8; 95% CI 4.31-131.6, p < 0.001) compared to those who did not report a triggering environment. Conclusions Our ndings demonstrate the negative impact the COVID-19 pandemic has had on the self-reported MH and ED symptoms in patients with EDs, particularly in those who report concern for a negative environmental change. These results underscore the need for heightened monitoring of patients with EDs during the pandemic.
Eating Disorders Spectrum during COVID Pandemic: a systematic review
2021
Background: Several data suggest that COVID-19 pandemic might exacerbate or trigger Eating Disorders (EDs). The aim of this paper was to summarize present literature on COVID pandemic and EDs. Methods: Literature search, study selection, methods, and quality evaluation were performed following PRISMA Guidelines. Results: The systematic search permitted the identification of 91 studies; 21 papers were eligible and included in the review. Nine papers (42.9%) evaluated the effect of pandemic and associated protective and risk factors in EDs patients, ten (47.6%) explored the prevalence of disturbed eating behaviours and risk factors for exacerbating EDs in the general population, and the remaining two (9.5%) were qualitative studies describing the impact of lockdown and quarantine on EDs patients. Their analysis revealed five main findings: 1) changes in physical activities routines were related to a worsening of preoccupation on weight/body shape; 2) food access limitation during pandemic represented a risk factors for both triggering and exacerbating EDs; 3) restriction in healthcare facilities contributed to increase anxiety levels and modifies treatment compliance; 4) social isolation was related to symptoms' exacerbation in EDs patients who are home-confined with family members; 5) conflicts and difficulties in relationships with 'no way out' were maintenance factors for EDs symptoms, especially in adolescents and young adults. Conclusion: COVID-19 pandemic had a negative impact on EDs that might be triggered or worsened by the exceptional conditions deriving from COVID-19-related stress in predisposed subjects. Patients already affected by EDs experienced a worsening of their clinical conditions and related quality of life. .
Journal of eating disorders, 2022
Background: Family support has been shown to be important for adolescents and young adults (AYA) in eating disorder (ED) treatment. Many families were impacted by the pandemic, potentially altering their ability to support individuals in ED treatment. This study examined the association of COVID-19 related familial economic change with self-reported mental health (MH) and ED concerns in AYA seeking treatment for ED. Methods: AYA patients with EDs aged 10-27 years enrolled in the Registry of Eating Disorders and their Co-morbidities OVER time in Youth (RECOVERY) completed an additional COVID-19-specific survey (n = 89) that assessed their perception of the effects of the pandemic on their lives and their ED. Participants self-reported on familial economic disruptions, measured through a composite score of four markers: (1) family member's work hours cut, (2) family member was required to stop working, (3) family member lost job permanently, and (4) family lost health insurance/ benefits. In bivariate analyses, we examined the association between self-reporting any familial economic disruption and self-reported changes in intrusive ED thoughts, feelings of anxiety, feelings of depression, feelings of isolation, and motivation to recover from their ED. Logistic regression models were used to examine the association between familial economic disruptions on self-reported changes in ED/MH affect and motivation to recover adjusting for age and ED diagnosis. Results: Forty-six percent of participants self-reported that the pandemic had resulted in at least one economic familial disruption. Of patients reporting any familial economic disruption, 29% reported decreased motivation for ED recovery, and over 75% reported worsening feelings of depression, anxiety, isolation, and/or intrusive eating disorder thoughts. Reporting any COVID-19 familial economic disruption was marginally associated with feelings of isolation (p = 0.05). Though the findings were only marginally significant, the odds of reporting worsening feelings of depression, anxiety, intrusive ED thoughts or motivation to recover were nearly twice in those who reported a COVID-19-related familial economic disruption compared to those who did not report such a disruption. Conclusions: Family-related economic disruptions are associated with ED/MH-related concerns and motivation to recover from an ED during the COVID-19 pandemic in AYA patients.
Psychological Impact of COVID-19 on People with Pre-Existing Chronic Disease
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 2021
The COVID-19 pandemic has caused an increase in anxiety and depression levels across broad populations. While anyone can be infected by the virus, the presence of certain chronic diseases has been shown to exacerbate the severity of the infection. There is a likelihood that knowledge of this information may lead to negative psychological impacts among people with chronic illness. We hypothesized that the pandemic has resulted in increased levels of anxiety and depression symptoms among people with chronic illness. We recruited 540 participants from the ongoing Prospective Urban and Rural Epidemiology (PURE) study in British Columbia, Canada. Participants were asked to fill out an online survey that included the Hospital Anxiety Depression Scale (HADS) to assess anxiety and depression symptoms. We tested our hypothesis using bivariate and multivariable linear regression models. Out of 540 participants, 15% showed symptoms of anxiety and 17% reported symptoms of depression. We found n...
Biomed, 2022
Background: Recent studies have highlighted the relationship between EDs and COVID-19 and have shown how the change in daily dynamics and lifestyle together with the forced isolation regime have worked as psychopathological risk factors. Prolonged isolation, as an effect of the lockdown, has generated anxieties and fears related to the loss of control, increasing food restrictions. Aim: The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of COVID-19 on symptoms, body image and the relationship between the onset of symptoms and the second block of the pandemic period. Methods: A total of 14 female patients (mean age = 18.71; SD = 5.59) with anorexia nervosa in treatment before the COVID-19 outbreak contributed to this study. The evaluation included the EDI-3, BUT and Disgust Scale-R questionnaires for general psychopathology, personality and ED severity indexes. Results: A total of 30% of patients reported increased symptoms during lockdown, and 88.2% passed the clinical cutoff on the general psychological maladaptation scale (EDI-3-GPMC > 26p), showing widespread dissatisfaction with body image and increased diet-related stress. Conclusions: Preliminary data on these specific vulnerability factors combined with stressful situationsin our case, the isolation due to the COVID-19 pandemic-can help in the design of personalized preventive and therapeutic approaches.
Access to Care and Worsening Eating Disorder Symptomatology during the COVID-19 Pandemic
Research Square (Research Square), 2021
Background Shelter-in-place orders and social distancing guidelines, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, have limited traditional face-to-face interactions and led to many clinical providers transitioning to the use of videoconferencing platforms. The present study aims to assess how the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted adolescents'/young adults' (AYA) eating disorder (ED)-related care, and how access to, changes in, perceived disruptions to, and quality of care are associated with ED thoughts and behaviors. Methods AYA enrolled in the RECOVERY study, a pre-existing web-based longitudinal study, completed a COVID-19speci c survey (n=89). We examined bivariate associations of four markers of care: access to and changes in care as well as perceived disruption to and quality of care. Using multiple logistic regression, we examined the associations of our pandemic-related markers of care with changes in ED thoughts and behaviors. We excluded those not engaged in treatment pre-pandemic (n=16). Results In the remaining 73 participants, reported access to care was high, with 92% of respondents continuing to see at least one ED provider during the pandemic; however, 47% stopped some treatment during the pandemic. Nearly one-third (32%) perceived a disruption in treatment. Quality of care remained high with 67% reporting care to be better than or as good as pre-pandemic. Respondents acknowledged heightened symptomatology: 81% reported increased ED thoughts and 81% reported increased ED behaviors due to COVID-19-related factors. However, none of the markers of care described were signi cantly associated with ED thoughts or behaviors in regression analyses adjusting for demographic variables and baseline characteristics, except our quality of care measure which was approaching signi cance (p=0.07). Conclusions Our ndings show the majority of AYA who had care prior to the pandemic are still receiving some element of their multidisciplinary ED treatment and perceive their care as high quality. Although none of the markers of care described were statistically associated with increased ED thoughts and behaviors, our results may indicate that continued access to care may be protective against increased ED behaviors and patients who perceive their quality of care as worse than usual might be more likely to have intrusive ED thoughts.
The Influences of COVID-19 Pandemic on Patient with Eating Disorders - A Literature Review
Journal of pharmaceutical research international, 2022
Introduction: Physical consequences have garnered the greatest attention during the coronavirus pandemic lockdowns, and few studies have studied the link between the COVID-19 lockdown and pre-existing mental health difficulties such as eating disorders (ED). Our main goal was to assess the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on individuals suffering from ED. Methods: We searched the online databases PubMed, ScienceDirect, and Springer for scientific articles published after September 2022 that studied the impact of coronavirus lockdowns on patients with ED. The authors analyzed 40 out of 76 publications that had the qualifying criteria.
Factors Associated with Acute and Persistent Psychological Disturbances During the COVID-19 Pandemic
2020
Background: The emergence of Corona virus disease (COVID-19) and wide-spread counter-measures, such as quarantine and social distancing, can have a significant impact on mental health of individuals. Methods: This online study anonymously screened 13,332 individuals worldwide for acute psychological symptoms related to Corona virus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic from March 29th to April 14th, 2020. A total of n=12,817 responses were considered valid. n=1077 participants from Europe were screened a second time during May 15th to May 30th to longitudinally ascertain the persistence of psychological effects. Results: Female gender, pre-existing psychiatric condition, and prior exposure to trauma were identified as notable factors associated with increased acute psychological symptoms during COVID-19. The same factors, in addition to, being related to someone who demised due to COVID-19 and using social media more than usual predicted persistence of psychological disturbances. Optimis...
Eating and Weight Disorders - Studies on Anorexia, Bulimia and Obesity
Purpose The COVID-19 pandemic restrictions had negative impact on the psychopathology of people with Eating Disorders (EDs). Factors involved in the vulnerability to stressful events have been under-investigated in this population. We aimed to assess which factors contributed to COVID-19-induced worsening in both general and specific psychopathology. Methods Three-hundred and twelve people with a clinically defined diagnosis of an ED and undergoing a specialist ED treatment in different Italian ED services before the spreading of COVID-19 pandemic filled in an online survey. ED specific and general psychopathology changes after COVID-19 quarantine were retrospectively evaluated. Factors related to COVID-19 concerns (financial condition, fear of contagion, perceived social isolation/support, satisfaction in peer, family or sentimental relationships), illness duration and treatment-related variables (type of treatment provided, type of access to care, satisfaction with therapeutic relationships) were included as predicting factors in a structural equational model, which included latent variables consisting of general and ED psychopathology items as outcomes. Results A perceived low quality of therapeutic relationships, fear of contagion and increased isolation were positively associated with psychopathology worsening. Reduced satisfaction with family and with friends' relationships and reduced perceived social support were associated with ED and general symptoms deterioration, respectively. No significant effect emerged for intimate relationships, illness duration, economic condition and type of treatment. Conclusions This study provides a comprehensive evaluation of clinical variables associated with psychopathological changes during the COVID-19 lockdown period highlighting potential risk and resilience factors and, possibly, informing treatment as well as prevention strategies for EDs. Level of evidence IV Evidence obtained from multiple time series analysis such as case studies
The impact of COVID-19 anxiety on eating disorders in medical and Master’s students
European Review for Medical and Pharmacological Sciences, 2023
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2 virus) first appeared in China with rapidly progressing pneumonia of unknown cause. Our goal was to investigate the relationship between COVID-19 anxiety and eating disorders among front-line physicians during the COVID-19 pandemic. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: This study is observational, prospective and analytical. The study population age range is from 18 to 65 years and includes healthcare professionals with a Master's degree or higher or subjects who have completed their education. We administered the Demographic Data Form, the Eating Disorder Rating Scale (EDRS), and the Coronavirus Anxiety Scale (CAS) to "Health professionals with a Master's degree or higher education, or who are receiving or have received Medical Specialization Training" across Turkey. RESULTS: The study initially included 312 people in total, but 19 were excluded (9 due to a pre-existing eating disorder, 2 for pregnancy, 2 for colitis, 4 for Diabetes Mellitus, 1 for depression, 1 with generalized anxiety disorder-GAD), leaving 293 subjects (82 men and 211 women). Assistant doctor was the highest status in the study group (56%), while specialization Training was the highest level of training (60.1%). CONCLUSIONS: We presented a detailed account of effects of scales and parameters related to the COVID-19 process on eating disorders and weight change in a specific population. These effects show both anxiety scores related to COVID-19 and eating disorders on various aspects and identify various variables influencing these scales in the main groups and subgroups.