Who is treating ARFID, and how? The need for training for community clinicians
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LETTER TO THE EDITOR
Who is treating ARFID, and how? The need for training for community clinicians C. A. Magel1 · K. Hewitt2 · G. Dimitropoulos3 · K. M. von Ranson1 · C. A. McMorris2 Received: 7 August 2020 / Accepted: 1 September 2020 © Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
Dear Editor, A substantial addition to the DSM-5 Feeding and Eating Disorder category was the diagnosis of avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder (ARFID), which involves a reduction in nutritional intake resulting in failure to meet appropriate nutritional requirements, due to minimal interest in eating or food, disliking sensory characteristics of food, or fearing the potential consequences of eating (e.g., vomiting). Youth with ARFID are both clinically and demographically distinct from those suffering from classic eating disorders such as anorexia nervosa (AN) and bulimia nervosa [1]. Although the concomitant weight loss can be misattributed to AN, ARFID is unaccompanied by distress about body shape or size. Those individuals with ARFID often present with notable psychological comorbidities (e.g., anxiety, mood, and addictions) and considerably low weights that may have dangerous physiological and medical consequences and may impede their growth and development [1, 2]. Researchers have concluded ARFID is prevalent in community and clinical samples. However, the assessment and types of treatment received by those presenting with ARFID have been minimally investigated, and no study has examined which healthcare professionals are providing these services. This is critical as individuals with ARFID often seek help from various healthcare practitioners, many of whom do not specialize in mental health treatment and may be unfamiliar with ARFID. Below we describe a study we conducted to fill this knowledge gap. * C. A. McMorris [email protected] 1
Department of Psychology, University of Calgary, 2500 University Dr. NW, Calgary, AB, Canada
2
Werklund School of Education, University of Calgary, 2500 University Dr. NW, Calgary, AB T2N1N4, Canada
3
Department of Social Work, University of Calgary, 2500 University Dr. NW, Calgary, AB, Canada
We developed and administered a brief, semi-structured phone interview to clinicians from various disciplines who self-reported treating patients 5 to 24 years of age with symptoms of ARFID. We contacted 2089 Calgary clinicians from 13 disciplines who would (1) be likely to encounter patients with ARFID based on their scope of practice; (2) were currently practicing in our city as a registered allied health professional; and (3) had been independently practicing and seeing patients for more than 6 months; only 35 clinicians from 5 disciplines agreed to participate. Although initial contact with potential participants was initially sought via email or fax to ensure a wide reach for recruitment, it is possible that if initial contact had been attempted via telephone our recruitment rate would have increased. However, two subsequent attempts to contact participants were made via telephone, which
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