Eating Disorders in Hospitalized School-Aged Children and Adolescents during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Cross-Sectional Study of Discharge Records in Developmental Ages in Italy

Abstract

Eating disorders (EDs) are characterized by behavioral and cognitive aspects that result in a significant impairment of an individual’s well-being. COVID-19 pandemic consequences negatively impacted healthcare services and people’s mental health. Particularly, in developmental ages, difficulties in coping with the situation could have had an impact on eating behaviors. Therefore, the aim of this study was to assess EDs’ hospitalization trend before, during and after the pandemic peak to evaluate whether it has been influenced. A retrospective cross-sectional study was conducted on the hospital discharge forms of patients from 5 to 19 years old in Piedmont, which is a region in northern Italy. Overall, hospitalization, age, and gender-specific rates due to EDs that occurred in 2020 and 2021 were compared to those that occurred in 2018–2019. Since 2020, there has been a 55% reduction in overall hospitalizations, while the total proportion of EDs admissions has doubled from 2020 to 2021 (from 13.9‰ to 22.2‰). Significant hospitalization rate increases were observed both in 15–19 and in 10–14 females’ age groups in 2021. Non-significant increases were observed in all males’ age groups. The increase in hospitalizations for EDs should be further investigated, as it might be the tip of an iceberg not yet acknowledged.