62. The Prevalence of Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder in a Pediatric and Adolescent Gynecology Clinic and Its Impact on the Menstrual Cycle

Abstract

Avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder (ARFID) is a newly articulated eating disorder in the DSM 5 that encompasses individuals who have persistent failure to meet appropriate nutritional and/or energy needs without distortions in their body weight, shape or size. Limited studies exist describing the prevalence of ARFID. While menstrual dysfunction has been characterized in anorexia nervosa (AN) and bulimia nervosa, there is a paucity of research describing menstrual patterns in patients with ARFID. Similar to AN, children and adolescents with ARFID may demonstrate weight loss, failure to achieve expected weight gain, abnormal eating behaviors and anxiety. As such, there is reason to suspect that this population may also be at risk for menstrual dysfunction and therefore present to pediatric and adolescent gynecology (PAG) clinics. The objectives of this study are to determine the prevalence of individuals with ARFID features presenting to a tertiary care PAG clinic and to describe the menstrual patterns of girls with ARFID features in a PAG clinic.