The increase in medical admissions with anorexia nervosa during the COVID-19 pandemic in Western Australia.

OBJECTIVE

A comparative study to describe the increase in medical admissions of children and adolescents with anorexia nervosa (AN) in Western Australia in 2019 (pre-pandemic) and 2020 (peri-pandemic).

METHOD: Patient demographics, physiological parameters, length of stay, time to assessment by the Eating Disorder Service (EDS), and commencement of specialist eating disorder (ED) outpatient treatment was collected for adolescents admitted with AN between 1st January 2019 and 31st December 2020.

RESULTS

The number of admissions doubled from 126 in 2019 to 268 in 2020. The number of children admitted increased by 52%. The median length of hospital stay was shorter in 2020 (12 vs. 17 days; p < .001), but the 28-day readmission rate was greater (39.9% vs. 22.2%; p < .001). At the time of hospital discharge in 2020, only 60% of patients were able to step-down into specialist ED outpatient treatment, compared to 93% in 2019. The mean number of admissions per child before completing EDS assessment increased significantly in 2020 (2.75 vs. 0, p < .001).

DISCUSSION: Shorter inpatient stays and delays in the commencement of specialist ED outpatient treatment may have contributed to the increased readmission rate seen in 2020.

PUBLIC SIGNIFICANCE: This research is important as it explores the reasons for increased medical presentations and admissions of youth with AN during the COVID-19 pandemic in Western Australia. We hope that our lessons learned may be helpful to others trying to balance similar clinical workloads.