The value of a multidisciplinary consensus meeting in achieving agreement on eating disorders diagnosis at a specialized referral center.

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to evaluate the concordance of eating disorders (EDs) diagnoses within a multidisciplinary team in a specialized hospital unit dedicated to the medical care of ED. METHODS: The study analyzed data from 608 female patients who sought consultation at the Eating Disorders Referral Center between 2017 and 2021. The diagnoses were established according to the DSM-5 criteria by endocrinologists, psychiatrists, and finally confirmed or discussed within a monthly multidisciplinary consensus meeting (MCM). Fleiss' Kappa tests were conducted to assess inter-raters' agreement. RESULTS: Overall, substantial agreement was observed between endocrinologists and psychiatrists and the MCM. A more detailed analysis revealed variations in agreement across different disorders. Certain EDs demonstrated substantial agreement (e.g., anorexia nervosa restrictive subtype), while others approached near-perfect agreement (e.g., binge-eating disorder). In contrast, agreement was fair to poor for anorexia nervosa binge-purge subtype (ANBP) and slight for other specified feeding and ED. A period of temporary disagreement was noted for ANBP, partially attributed to practitioner turnover. An improvement in interdisciplinary agreement was observed for all ED diagnoses by the end of the study period. DISCUSSION: Variations or lower levels of inter-rater agreement may stem from atypical cases that fall on the border between two diagnoses or complex cases, as well as fluctuating symptoms. The progress observed throughout the study can be attributed in part to interdisciplinary learning, particularly facilitated by the MCM. The findings underscore the significance of striving for optimal concordance among different medical specialties to enhance patient care in ED treatment. PUBLIC SIGNIFICANCE: This study scrutinizes the agreement levels of ED diagnoses among endocrinologists and psychiatrists within a multidisciplinary team at an Eating Disorders Referral Center. While substantial overall agreement was achieved, disparities or lower agreement levels were evident for certain diagnoses such as anorexia nervosa binge-purge subtype. However, collaborative meetings led to a progressive enhancement in agreement over time. This research underscores the crucial role of a multidisciplinary team working collectively to ensure precise diagnoses and improved care for patients with EDs.

Continuous glucose monitoring assessment in patients suffering from anorexia nervosa reveals chronic prolonged mild hypoglycemia all over the nycthemeron.

OBJECTIVE: Anorexia nervosa (AN) is an eating disorder characterised by voluntary dietary restriction leading to severe undernutrition. Hypoglycaemia is mostly described through severe case reports and is always evaluated by fasting or post-meal blood glucose, showing nothing about hypoglycaemia's length or duration. The interest of continuous interstitial glucose monitoring (CGM), largely used in diabetes mellitus, has never been evaluated in AN patients. METHOD: Glycaemia cycles in AN patients were assessed using CGM over 5 days and then analysed according to food intake. RESULTS: Mean glycaemia was within normal range. 91% of the patients presented with at least one episode with glycaemia under 70 mg/dl. Within the 24 h, the percentage of time spent with a glycaemia under 70 mg/dl was of 20.82 ± 3.90% with a maximum of 52%. We found 2.52 ± 0.33 hypoglycaemia events per 24 h, including 21.11 ± 3.76% at night. CGM parameters correlated with cortisol and IGF1 plasma levels. Comparison with estimated carbohydrate intakes discriminated concordant and non-concordant estimations depending on patient. CONCLUSIONS: AN patients display chronic prolonged mild hypoglycaemia all over the nycthemeron despite normal fasting glycaemia. Associated adaptive increased counter-regulatory hormones might protect AN patients from deeper hypoglycaemia. CGM allowed testing food intake self-estimation reliability of AN patients and could be a very useful biofeedback tool.