TY - JOUR
T1 - Meta-analysis on the efficacy of psychological treatments for anorexia nervosa
AU - van den Berg, Elske
AU - Houtzager, Laura
AU - de Vos, Jasmijn
AU - Daemen, Inge
AU - Katsaragaki, Georgia
AU - Karyotaki, Eirini
AU - Cuijpers, Pim
AU - Dekker, Jack
N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2019 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and Eating Disorders Association.
PY - 2019/7
Y1 - 2019/7
N2 - Objective: This meta-analysis examines the efficacy of recently developed psychological treatments for anorexia nervosa, compared with control condition. Outcome criteria are weight gain, eating disorder pathology, and quality of life. Method: Twelve thousand nine hundred ninety-seven abstracts, published between 1980 and 2017, were retrieved. End-of-treatment data from 1,279 participants, from 15 of 17 eligible studies, were used to calculate pooled-effect sizes (Hedges' g) for outcome using random-effects model. Subgroup analyses were used to explore the influence of various patient and study characteristics. Results: No significant differences between psychological treatment and controls were found on weight gain, g = 0.07, 95% CI [−0.09, 0.23], eating disorder pathology, g = 0.06, 95% CI [−0.10, 0.21], and quality of life, g = −0.11, 95% CI [−0.36, 0.15]. Studies including only patients over 18 years of age were more effective on weight gain than studies including adolescents as well. High-quality studies and studies with reported therapist training had larger effects on weight gain and quality of life compared with low-quality studies and studies without reported training. Conclusions: Despite progress in the development of specialized treatments, the efficacy of psychological treatment over an active control condition could not be established. Outcomes, however, are obscured by low-quality and heterogeneous studies.
AB - Objective: This meta-analysis examines the efficacy of recently developed psychological treatments for anorexia nervosa, compared with control condition. Outcome criteria are weight gain, eating disorder pathology, and quality of life. Method: Twelve thousand nine hundred ninety-seven abstracts, published between 1980 and 2017, were retrieved. End-of-treatment data from 1,279 participants, from 15 of 17 eligible studies, were used to calculate pooled-effect sizes (Hedges' g) for outcome using random-effects model. Subgroup analyses were used to explore the influence of various patient and study characteristics. Results: No significant differences between psychological treatment and controls were found on weight gain, g = 0.07, 95% CI [−0.09, 0.23], eating disorder pathology, g = 0.06, 95% CI [−0.10, 0.21], and quality of life, g = −0.11, 95% CI [−0.36, 0.15]. Studies including only patients over 18 years of age were more effective on weight gain than studies including adolescents as well. High-quality studies and studies with reported therapist training had larger effects on weight gain and quality of life compared with low-quality studies and studies without reported training. Conclusions: Despite progress in the development of specialized treatments, the efficacy of psychological treatment over an active control condition could not be established. Outcomes, however, are obscured by low-quality and heterogeneous studies.
KW - anorexia nervosa
KW - control condition
KW - efficacy
KW - meta-analysis
KW - psychological treatment
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85066893770&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - https://doi.org/10.1002/erv.2683
DO - https://doi.org/10.1002/erv.2683
M3 - Review article
C2 - 31124215
SN - 1072-4133
VL - 27
SP - 331
EP - 351
JO - EUROPEAN EATING DISORDERS REVIEW
JF - EUROPEAN EATING DISORDERS REVIEW
IS - 4
ER -