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. 2021 Dec:43:101573.
doi: 10.1016/j.eatbeh.2021.101573. Epub 2021 Oct 1.

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

Abigail Matthews  1 , Rachel A Kramer  2 , Claire M Peterson  2 , Laurie Mitan  3
Affiliations

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

Abigail Matthews et al. Eat Behav. 2021 Dec.

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; COVID-19; Medical hospitalizations; Rapid readmissions; Youth.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

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