Center for Clinical Interventions, Perth, Australia.
School of Psychology, University of Western Australia, Perth, Australia.
Int J Eat Disord. 2021 Sep;54(9):1689-1695. doi: 10.1002/eat.23574. Epub 2021 Jun 29.
The coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) has required telehealth to be integrated into the delivery of evidence-based treatments for eating disorders in many services, but the impact of this on patient outcomes is unknown.
The present study examined the impact of the first wave of COVID-19 and rapid transition to telehealth on eating disorder symptoms in a routine clinical setting.
Participants were 25 patients with a confirmed eating disorder diagnosis who had commenced face-to-face treatment and rapidly switched to telehealth during the first wave of COVID-19 in Western Australia. Eating disorder symptoms, clinical impairment and mood were measured prospectively before and during lockdowns imposed due to COVID-19.
We predicted that patients would experience poorer treatment outcomes during COVID-19 and would perceive poorer therapeutic alliance and poorer quality of treatment compared to face-to-face therapy.
Our hypotheses were not supported. On average, patients achieved large improvements in eating disorder symptoms and mood, and the magnitude of improvement in eating disorder symptoms was comparable to historical benchmarks at the same clinic. Patients rated the quality of treatment and therapeutic alliance highly.
Providing evidence-based treatment for eating disorders via telehealth during COVID-19 lockdown is acceptable to patients and associated with positive treatment outcomes.
冠状病毒大流行（COVID-19）要求在许多服务中整合远程医疗，以提供基于证据的饮食障碍治疗，但这对患者结局的影响尚不清楚。
本研究在常规临床环境中，考察了 COVID-19 第一波疫情以及迅速转向远程医疗对饮食障碍症状的影响。
参与者为 25 名确诊为饮食障碍的患者，他们在澳大利亚西部 COVID-19 第一波疫情期间开始接受面对面治疗，并迅速转为远程医疗。在 COVID-19 相关封锁期间，前瞻性地测量了饮食障碍症状、临床障碍和情绪。
我们预测，与面对面治疗相比，患者在 COVID-19 期间的治疗结局更差，且会认为治疗联盟更差，治疗质量更差。
我们的假设没有得到支持。平均而言，患者的饮食障碍症状和情绪有了很大的改善，且饮食障碍症状的改善程度与同一诊所的历史基准相当。患者对治疗质量和治疗联盟的评价很高。
在 COVID-19 封锁期间通过远程医疗提供基于证据的饮食障碍治疗，患者可接受，且与积极的治疗结局相关。
