Evidence Insufficient For Screening For Eating Disorders

USPSTF Deems Existing Evidence Insufficient For Screening For Eating Disorders In Asymptomatic Adolescents And Adults

According to MedPage Today (3/15, Monaco), the US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) “deemed existing evidence insufficient (grade ‘I’) to make a recommendation in favor or against screening for eating disorders in” asymptomatic adolescents and adults, “concluding that ‘the balance of benefits and harms cannot be determined.’” This recommendation “applies to adolescents (ages 10 years and older) and adults with a normal or high body mass index (BMI) who exhibit no signs or symptoms of eating disorders, such as rapid weight loss, weight gain, or pronounced deviation from growth trajectory, pubertal delay, bradycardia, oligomenorrhea, or amenorrhea.”

HealthDay (3/15) reports that in arriving at its decision, the USPSTF included data “from 57 studies, with 10,773 participants; three studies (1,073 participants) were limited to adolescents.” The USPSTF’s recommendation statement and the evidence report underlying the task force’s decision were published March 15 in JAMA. HCPlive (3/15, Kunzmann) also covers the story.

Joseph (Joe) E. Thornton, M.D., DFAPA