The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on administrative eating disorder prevalence in the outpatient sector and on severity of anorexia nervosa.

ABSTRACT: The COVID-19 pandemic appears to have had a considerable impact on the mental health of children and adolescents, particularly regarding eating disorders. However, it remains unclear whether the pandemic affected only the frequency or also the severity of eating disorders. We examined potential pandemic-related changes in the administrative prevalence of eating disorders in the outpatient sector compared with other mental disorders using German statutory health insurance data for the age group 10 to 16 years. We also examined disorder severity of anorexia nervosa using data from the multicenter German Registry of Children and Adolescents with Anorexia Nervosa in the same age group. Our results showed a marked increase in the administrative prevalence of eating disorders (based on documente

SUBMITTER: Tam FI 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11909050 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature