A decade of data from a specialist statewide child and adolescent eating disorder service: does local service access correspond with the severity of medical and eating disorder symptoms at presentation?
Background - Eating disorders affect up to 3% of children and adolescents, with recovery often requiring specialist treatment. A substantial literature has accrued suggesting that lower access to health care services, experienced by rural populations, has a staggering effect on health-related morbid...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Journal Article |
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BioMed Central
2014
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/28576 |
| _version_ | 1848752574588518400 |
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| author | Alman, Jeremy Hoiles, Kimberley Watson, Hunna Egan, Sarah Hamilton, Matthew McCormack, J. Potts, J. Forbes, D. Shu, Chloe |
| author_facet | Alman, Jeremy Hoiles, Kimberley Watson, Hunna Egan, Sarah Hamilton, Matthew McCormack, J. Potts, J. Forbes, D. Shu, Chloe |
| author_sort | Alman, Jeremy |
| building | Curtin Institutional Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | Background - Eating disorders affect up to 3% of children and adolescents, with recovery often requiring specialist treatment. A substantial literature has accrued suggesting that lower access to health care services, experienced by rural populations, has a staggering effect on health-related morbidity and mortality. The aim of this study was to evaluate whether lower service access foreshadowed a more severe medical and symptom presentation among children and adolescents presenting to a specialist eating disorders program. Method - The data source was the Helping to Outline Paediatric Eating Disorders (HOPE) Project registry (N ~1000), a prospective ongoing registry study comprising consecutive paediatric tertiary eating disorder referrals. The sample consisted of 399 children and adolescents aged 8 to 16 years (M =14.49, 92% female) meeting criteria for a DSM-5 eating disorder. Results - Consistent with the hypotheses, lower service access was associated with a lower body mass index z-score and a higher likelihood of medical complications at intake assessment. Contrary to our hypothesis, eating pathology assessed at intake was associated with higher service access. No relationship was observed between service access and duration of illness or percentage of body weight lost. Conclusions - Lower service access is associated with more severe malnutrition and medical complications at referral to a specialist eating disorder program. These findings have implications for service planning and provision for rural communities to equalize health outcomes. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T08:10:47Z |
| format | Journal Article |
| id | curtin-20.500.11937-28576 |
| institution | Curtin University Malaysia |
| institution_category | Local University |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T08:10:47Z |
| publishDate | 2014 |
| publisher | BioMed Central |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | curtin-20.500.11937-285762017-09-13T15:19:35Z A decade of data from a specialist statewide child and adolescent eating disorder service: does local service access correspond with the severity of medical and eating disorder symptoms at presentation? Alman, Jeremy Hoiles, Kimberley Watson, Hunna Egan, Sarah Hamilton, Matthew McCormack, J. Potts, J. Forbes, D. Shu, Chloe Eating disorders HOPE Project Child Medical complications Adolescent Rural Background - Eating disorders affect up to 3% of children and adolescents, with recovery often requiring specialist treatment. A substantial literature has accrued suggesting that lower access to health care services, experienced by rural populations, has a staggering effect on health-related morbidity and mortality. The aim of this study was to evaluate whether lower service access foreshadowed a more severe medical and symptom presentation among children and adolescents presenting to a specialist eating disorders program. Method - The data source was the Helping to Outline Paediatric Eating Disorders (HOPE) Project registry (N ~1000), a prospective ongoing registry study comprising consecutive paediatric tertiary eating disorder referrals. The sample consisted of 399 children and adolescents aged 8 to 16 years (M =14.49, 92% female) meeting criteria for a DSM-5 eating disorder. Results - Consistent with the hypotheses, lower service access was associated with a lower body mass index z-score and a higher likelihood of medical complications at intake assessment. Contrary to our hypothesis, eating pathology assessed at intake was associated with higher service access. No relationship was observed between service access and duration of illness or percentage of body weight lost. Conclusions - Lower service access is associated with more severe malnutrition and medical complications at referral to a specialist eating disorder program. These findings have implications for service planning and provision for rural communities to equalize health outcomes. 2014 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/28576 10.1186/s40337-014-0032-0 BioMed Central fulltext |
| spellingShingle | Eating disorders HOPE Project Child Medical complications Adolescent Rural Alman, Jeremy Hoiles, Kimberley Watson, Hunna Egan, Sarah Hamilton, Matthew McCormack, J. Potts, J. Forbes, D. Shu, Chloe A decade of data from a specialist statewide child and adolescent eating disorder service: does local service access correspond with the severity of medical and eating disorder symptoms at presentation? |
| title | A decade of data from a specialist statewide child and adolescent eating disorder service: does local service access correspond with the severity of medical and eating disorder symptoms at presentation? |
| title_full | A decade of data from a specialist statewide child and adolescent eating disorder service: does local service access correspond with the severity of medical and eating disorder symptoms at presentation? |
| title_fullStr | A decade of data from a specialist statewide child and adolescent eating disorder service: does local service access correspond with the severity of medical and eating disorder symptoms at presentation? |
| title_full_unstemmed | A decade of data from a specialist statewide child and adolescent eating disorder service: does local service access correspond with the severity of medical and eating disorder symptoms at presentation? |
| title_short | A decade of data from a specialist statewide child and adolescent eating disorder service: does local service access correspond with the severity of medical and eating disorder symptoms at presentation? |
| title_sort | decade of data from a specialist statewide child and adolescent eating disorder service: does local service access correspond with the severity of medical and eating disorder symptoms at presentation? |
| topic | Eating disorders HOPE Project Child Medical complications Adolescent Rural |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/28576 |