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Review
. 2025 Aug 14;30(1):63.
doi: 10.1007/s40519-025-01783-8.

Impact of eating disorders on paid or unpaid work participation and performance: a systematic review

Simrat Ubhi  1   2 , Ali Bani-Fatemi  1 , Aaron Howe  1 , Fatima Safi  1 , Anna Aniserowicz  1 , Behdin Nowrouzi-Kia  3   4   5
Affiliations
Review

Impact of eating disorders on paid or unpaid work participation and performance: a systematic review

Simrat Ubhi et al. Eat Weight Disord. .

Abstract

Objective: Eating disorders (EDs), including binge eating disorders (BEDs), bulimia nervosa (BN) and anorexia nervosa (AN), can inflict adverse effects on well-being, daily functioning, and workplace performance, presenting significant occupational, social, and economic challenges. This systematic review seeks to explore the relationship between ED symptomatologies and their impacts on work performance.

Methods: This systematic review adhered to The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses. Formal methods of critical appraisal for both qualitative and quantitative studies were utilized. Six studies were included.

Results: Participants across all studies (n = 20,367) exhibited heightened levels of presenteeism, absenteeism, work productivity impairment, and higher annual burden costs compared to their non-ED counterparts.

Conclusion: Impaired decision-making, cognitive inflexibility, and poor executive functioning significantly impact work participation and performance, underscoring the need for workplace policies that reduce stigma and stress, and calls for further research into how environmental factors and interventions affect ED recovery.

Level of evidence: Level I, systematic review.

Keywords: Anorexia nervosa; Binge eating disorder; Bulimia nervosa; Eating disorders; Work performance.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declarations. Ethics approval and consent to participate: Not applicable. Consent for publication: Not applicable. Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
PRISMA flowchart of included and excluded studies
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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