Elsevier

Eating Behaviors

Volume 43, December 2021, 101573
Eating Behaviors

Higher admission and rapid readmission rates among medically hospitalized youth with anorexia nervosa/atypical anorexia nervosa during COVID-19

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eatbeh.2021.101573Get rights and content

Highlights

  • Inpatient admission rates for youth with AN/AAN significantly increased after pandemic onset.

  • Patients admitted since COVID-19 were 8.68 times more likely to be rapidly readmitted.

  • One-third of hospitalized patients cited COVID-19 as a primary correlate of AN/AAN development/exacerbation.`

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has had sweeping and deleterious effects on the well-being of individuals worldwide. Eating disorders (EDs) are no exception, with incidence and prevalence of EDs rising since COVID-19 onset. The current study examined inpatient census and readmission rates among youth (aged 8–18) hospitalized for medical complications of anorexia nervosa (AN) or atypical anorexia nervosa (AAN) throughout distinct periods of the COVID-19 pandemic, including pre-COVID-19 (n = 136), COVID-19 lockdown (n = 3), and post COVID-19 lockdown (n = 24). Data from the COVID-19 lockdown period was excluded from analyses due to low sample size. Youth hospitalized during post COVID-19 lockdown were over 8-times more likely to be readmitted within 30-days of discharge compared to patients hospitalized before the pandemic (p = .002). Further, the inpatient census of youth with AN/AAN was significantly higher during post COVID-19 lockdown compared to pre-COVID-19 (p = .04). One-third of patients hospitalized since the pandemic identified COVID-19 consequences as a primary correlate of their ED. Our findings, although not causal, suggest an association between COVID-19 and AN/AAN development and exacerbation in youth, thus prompting more medical admissions and rapid readmissions among this demographic. This study has important implications for understanding how AN/AAN onset and exacerbation in youth has been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and can inform new efforts to support individuals navigating treatment during a global crisis.

Keywords

Anorexia nervosa
Youth
COVID-19
Medical hospitalizations
Rapid readmissions

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