A New Measure of Body Image in Eating Disorders

Laureate Institute for Brain Research (LIBR)

Status: Active, not recruiting

Conditions: Eating Disorder

Treatments: Other: Body App

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT03758326

2018-001-01

Details and patient eligibility

About

This study aims to compare a new electronic instrument called (here referred to as the 'Body App') with traditional paper and pencil rating scales for assessing how individuals with eating disorders evaluate their body image.

Full description

Self-perceived weight or shape disturbance is a core symptom of eating disorders, with heavy therapeutic and prognostic relevance. Developing a reliable and unbiased method to assess body image disturbance is imperative, as feature characteristics of eating disorders, such as anorexia nervosa, include the overestimation of body size and shape. Among the most essential features of the disorder, this inability to correctly judge one's own body image has been frequently linked to the maintenance of eating disorders. Moreover, persistent perceptual disturbance for one's visual appearance is one of the strong predictors of relapse in AN and bulimia nervosa.

Body image disturbance can be conceptualized as having two main components: perceptual, and attitudinal/affective. These might be considered two distinct constructs, best measured independently. However, clinicians currently rely upon self-report questionnaires that evaluate aggregates of symptoms, perceptual experiences, behaviors, and thoughts linked to the disorder. Some scales selectively evaluate body image characteristics such as body dissatisfaction and body distortion. However, it is unclear to what degree each of these measures quantifies the specific components of perceptual experiences vs. attitudinal/affective aspects. This study aims to evaluate whether a new electronic instrument, here referred to as the 'Body App', which separates estimations of body shape and size from the attitudinal/affective component might result in closer approximations of the perceptual component of weight or shape disturbance, and facilitate the assessment of body image disturbance in eating disorders.

Enrollment: 135 patients

Sex: Female

Ages: 13 to 64 years old

Volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion and exclusion criteria

Eating disorders group:

Inclusion Criteria:

• Primary clinical diagnosis of eating disorder
• Receiving inpatient treatment for eating disorder
• Body mass index greater than or equal to 14
• Independently ambulatory
• Possession of a smartphone with data plan
• English proficiency

Exclusion Criteria:

• Active suicidal ideation
• Comorbid schizophrenia spectrum or other psychotic disorder.

Healthy comparison group:

Inclusion Criteria:

• No current psychiatric diagnosis
• Body mass index greater than or equal to 14
• Independently ambulatory
• Possession of a smartphone with data plan
• English proficiency

Exclusion Criteria:

• Body mass index > 41
• Active suicidal ideation

Trial design

Primary purpose: Diagnostic

Allocation: Non-Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: None (Open label)

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135 participants in 2 patient groups

Eating disorder

Other group

Description:

Measurement of body image via Body App and relationship to body measurement

Treatment:

Other: Body App

Healthy comparison

Other group

Description:

Measurement of body image via Body App and relationship to body measurement

Treatment:

Other: Body App