Abstract
BackgroundThis study aimed to establish consensus on the expression and distinction of disordered eating in pregnancy to improve awareness across various health professions and inform the development of a pregnancy-specific assessment instrument.MethodsA three-round modified Delphi method was used with two independent panels. International clinicians and researchers with extensive knowledge on and/or clinical experience with eating disorders formed the first panel and were recruited using structured selection criteria. Women who identified with a lived experience of disordered eating in pregnancy formed the second panel and were recruited via expressions of interest from study advertising on pregnancy forums and social media platforms. A systematic search of academic and grey literature produced 200 sources which were used to pre-populate the Round I questionnaire. Additional items were included in Round II based on panel feedback in Round I. Consensus was defined as 75% agreement on an item.ResultsOf the 102 items presented to the 26 professional panel members and 15 consumer panel members, 75 reached consensus across both panels. Both panels clearly identified signs and symptoms of disordered eating in pregnancy and endorsed a number of clinical features practitioners should consider when delineating disordered eating symptomatically from normative pregnancy experiences.ConclusionA list of signs and symptoms in consensus was identified. The areas of collective agreement may be used to guide clinicians in clinical practice, aid the development of psychometric tools to detect/assess pregnancy-specific disordered eating, in addition to serving as starting point for the development of a core outcome set to measure disordered eating in pregnancy.
Highlights
This study aimed to establish consensus on the expression and distinction of disordered eating in pregnancy to improve awareness across various health professions and inform the development of a pregnancyspecific assessment instrument
The distinction between disordered eating and a threshold eating disorder (ED) is often the degree of severity and frequency of symptomatology, with disordered eating occurring at a lesser frequency and/or lower level of severity [2]
The final sample consisted of 23 women and three men from geographically diverse areas, with an average of 19.08 years (SD = 11.56) respective professional experience and 14.42 years (SD = 10.97) specialisation in the field of EDs/disordered eating
Summary
This study aimed to establish consensus on the expression and distinction of disordered eating in pregnancy to improve awareness across various health professions and inform the development of a pregnancyspecific assessment instrument. In addition to representing a persistent pattern of disturbance, disordered eating can represent changes in eating and exercise patterns due to developmental stages (e.g., pregnancy, early childhood, and advancing age), other mental health conditions (e.g., major depressive disorder), or certain life events (e.g., moving away from home, relationship breakdown). In these circumstances, the changes in an individual’s eating and/or exercise patterns are typically transient and/or not accompanied by significant psychological or physical distress [2]
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