Premium
Comparison of standardized versus individualized caloric prescriptions in the nutritional rehabilitation of inpatients with anorexia nervosa
Author(s) -
Haynos Ann F.,
Snipes Cassandra,
Guarda Angela,
Mayer Laurel E.,
Attia Evelyn
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
international journal of eating disorders
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.785
H-Index - 138
eISSN - 1098-108X
pISSN - 0276-3478
DOI - 10.1002/eat.22469
Subject(s) - weight gain , medical prescription , medicine , caloric theory , anorexia nervosa , cumulative incidence , incidence (geometry) , pediatrics , physical therapy , psychology , body weight , psychiatry , eating disorders , cohort , physics , optics , pharmacology
Objective Sparse research informs how caloric prescriptions should be advanced during nutritional rehabilitation of inpatients with anorexia nervosa (AN). This study compared the impact of a standardized caloric increase approach, in which increases occurred on a predetermined schedule, to an individualized approach, in which increases occurred only following insufficient weight gain, on rate, pattern, and cumulative amount of weight gain and other weight restoration outcomes. Method This study followed a natural experiment design comparing AN inpatients consecutively admitted before ( n = 35) and after ( n = 35) an institutional change from individualized to standardized caloric prescriptions. Authors examined the impact of prescription plan on weekly weight gain in the first treatment month using multilevel modeling. Within a subsample remaining inpatient through weight restoration ( n = 40), multiple regressions examined the impact of caloric prescription plan on time to weight restoration, length of hospitalization, maximum caloric prescription, discharge BMI, and incidence of activity restriction and edema. Results There were significant interactions between prescription plan and quadratic time on average weekly weight gain ( p = .03) and linear time on cumulative weekly weight gain ( p < .001). Under the standardized plan, patients gained in an accelerated curvilinear pattern ( p = .04) and, therefore, gained cumulatively greater amounts of weight over time ( p < .001). Additionally, 30% fewer patients required activity restriction under the standardized plan. Discussion Standardized caloric prescriptions may confer advantage by facilitating accelerated early weight gain and lower incidence of bedrest without increasing the incidence of refeeding syndrome. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. (Int J Eat Disord 2016; 49:50–58).