The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on intensive cognitive behavioral therapy outcomes in patients with anorexia nervosa-A cohort study.

OBJECTIVE

This study aimed to assess the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the efficacy of an intensive treatment based on enhanced cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT-E) in patients with anorexia nervosa.

METHODS

This cohort study analyzed 57 patients with anorexia nervosa who experienced the COVID-19 pandemic during intensive CBT-E, comparing their outcomes (body mass index [BMI], eating-disorder and general psychopathology, and clinical impairment) with those of patients with anorexia nervosa matched by gender, age, and BMI given the same treatment before the COVID-19 outbreak as controls. Patients were assessed at baseline, at the end of treatment and after 20 weeks of follow-up.

RESULTS

More than 75% of patients during the pandemic versus 85% of controls completed the treatment, a difference that was not significant. BMI, eating disorder and general psychopathology and clinical impairment scores improved significantly from baseline to 20-week follow-up in both groups. However, the improvement was more marked in controls than in those treated during the COVID-19 pandemic.

CONCLUSION

Patients with anorexia nervosa given intensive CBT-E during the COVID-19 pandemic had significantly improved psychopathology, albeit to a lesser extent than patients given the same treatment before the COVID-19 pandemic.

PUBLIC SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT: In this study, the outcome of 57 patients with anorexia treated with intensive enhanced cognitive behavior therapy during the COVID-19 pandemic was compared with a matched group treated before the pandemic hit. The rate of remission from anorexia nervosa was similar between the two groups. However, patients exposed to the COVID-19 pandemic showed lesser improvement than those not exposed.