How does the integration of digital health tools into traditional treatment plans affect treatment outcomes, patient satisfaction and engagement for adolescents with an eating disorder.

Abstract

Background/aim: In Australia eating disorders have the highest mortality and morbidity rates of any group of mental health diagnosis. Despite this it is often difficult to access care with clients reporting negative attitudes towards them because of their diagnosis from a range of health professionals. In addition, people with an eating disorder often have issues accessing specialist care this is especially true for those living in regional or rural areas where specialist care is largely non-existent with clients and their families having to travel long distances to access specialist care and is often cited as a barrier to accessing specialist care. This systematic review aims to search the literature and report findings about the experience of e-mental health interventions in the treatment of eating disorders in adolescent clients. Population setting: Adolescents with a dx eating disorders their families and clinicians treated in a community Methods: This systematic review conducted a search of five medical databases, MEDLINE, CINAHL, PSYCHOinfo, EMBASE and Cochraine databases. The research team screened title and abstracts and full text prior to final inclusion with all stages completed by two of the team. ROBANS 2 and GRADE were used to assess bias and quality of included studies.. Results/findings: A total of 508 studies were identified for titles and abstract reviews of which 33 were in full text and subsequently 7 articles were included in the final study. All the included studies were conducted during the COVID 19 pandemic and with six of the studies assessing the experience of e-mental health interventions for the adolescent's their families and the clinicians. One study specifically looked at the clinician's experience of virtual mental health. Three studies looked at running virtual day programs, one study looked at the use of a specific application and two studies looked at hybrid models. Conclusion: The results of this systematic review highlight both the potential for expanding access to specialist care for eating disorders especially via a hybrid model of care however there is a need for larger controlled studies as well as looking at the longitudinal effects in sustained outcomes and relapse prevention. It would also be important to look at these interventions outside of an emergency context such as a pandemic to look at long-term viability. Translational impact/implications for future practice: Results show potential to expanding specialist eating disorder treatment provision by utilising e-mental health