Lucena Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) has recently established a dedicated clinic for eating disorder cases, proposing a Standardised Inclusive Medical and Psychiatry evaluation of Eating Disorders (SIMPLE). Standardized diagnostic assessments and questionnaires are used to optimise a multi-disciplinary team-delivered treatment, ensuring medical and psychiatry aspects of risk are regularly considered.
Lucena Clinic Rathgar has seen an increase in ED referrals since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. Optimal planning of service provision requires that the degree to which referrals have increased and any change in the clinical profile of patients is accounted for.
The study will include all cases referred to Lucena CAMHS with an ED between 2019 and 2023. Clinical details including weight, BMI and ideal body weight on referral, extent of weight loss, degree of calorie restriction, and compensatory behaviours will be recorded. Numbers referred to the SIMPLE clinic, numbers requiring specialist medical review, hospital admission and the degree of medical compromise will also be collated and reviewed, along with output from SIMPLE standardised questionnaires. Referrers (CAMHS Consultants) and Family Based Therapy (FBT) team providers will be asked for their feedback using a study specific questionnaire, and reasons for non-referral of any other ED cases to SIMPLE.
We anticipate the study will describe the clinical profile and comorbidity of cases referred to the SIMPLE clinic, as well as any change in the rates and clinical profiles of cases before and after the COVID-19 pandemic.
