Treatment of childhood and adolescent anorexia nervosa: day treatment versus inpatient treatment

ISRCTN ISRCTN67783402
DOI https://doi.org/10.1186/ISRCTN67783402
Secondary identifying numbers N/A
Submission date
31/07/2006
Registration date
18/01/2007
Last edited
17/03/2017
Recruitment status
No longer recruiting
Overall study status
Completed
Condition category
Mental and Behavioural Disorders
Prospectively registered
Protocol
Statistical analysis plan
Results
Individual participant data

Plain English summary of protocol

Background and study aims
Anorexia nervosa is a serious mental health condition where a person keeps their body weight as low as possible. There are very few studies exploring the effectiveness of treatment setting in adolescent anorexia nervosa. The aim of this study is to compare inpatient treatment with day patient treatment after short inpatient medical stabilization.

Who can participate?
Adolescent girls aged between 11 and 18 at first admission to hospital treatment for anorexia nervosa

What does the study involve?
All participants are first admitted to inpatient treatment for the first three weeks of the study. After completing this three-week stabilization period, participants are randomly allocated to either continued inpatient treatment or day patient treatment. Both day treatment and inpatient treatment include medical management as required, physiotherapy, occupational therapy, nutritional counseling, nutritional therapy (e.g. eating according to a plan, model eating, eating in a restaurant, guided family meals), weight management with a behavioural program to support weekly weight gain up to a target weight, group therapy for eating disorders, individual psychotherapy (Cognitive-Behavioural Therapy [CBT]), and family-based therapy. To assure safety, all participants are assessed twice a week by physicians who are experienced in the complications associated with adolescent AN.

What are the possible benefits and risks of participating?
Not provided at time of registration

Where is the study run from?
Universitätsklinikum Aachen (Germany)

When is the study starting and how long is it expected to run for?
October 2006 to October 2012

Who is funding the study?
Federal Ministry of Education and Research (Germany)

Who is the main contact?
Prof. Dr Beate Herpertz-Dahlmann
bherpertz-dahlmann@ukaachen.de

Contact information

Prof Beate Herpertz-Dahlmann
Scientific

Universitätsklinikum Aachen
Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy
Neuenhofer Weg 21
Aachen
52074
Germany

Phone +49 (0)241 808 8737
Email bherpertz-dahlmann@ukaachen.de

Study information

Study designMulticentre prospective randomised non-inferiority trial
Primary study designInterventional
Secondary study designRandomised controlled trial
Study setting(s)Other
Study typeTreatment
Participant information sheet Not available in web format, please use the contact details to request a patient information sheet
Scientific titleTreatment of childhood and adolescent Anorexia Nervosa: Day treatment versus Inpatient treatment
Study acronymANDI
Study objectivesThe effect of 12 weeks of day patient treatment is not different (non-inferior) from inpatient treatment of the same length in terms of weight gain after one year concerning adolescents with non-chronic Anorexia Nervosa (AN).
Ethics approval(s)Local Ethics Committee (Ethik-Kommission at the Medical Faculty of the Rheinisch-Westfälischen Technischen Hochschule Aachen [RWTH Aachen]), 24/01/2007, ref: 127/06
Health condition(s) or problem(s) studiedAnorexia nervosa
InterventionDay treatment and inpatient treatment includes:
1. Medical management as required
2. Physiotherapy
3. Occupational therapy
4. Nutritional counselling
5. Nutritional therapy (e.g. eating according to a plan, model eating, eating in a restaurant, guided family meals)
6. Weight management with flexible operant conditional behavioural program to support a weekly weight gain of 500-1000 gr/week up to the achievement of target weight (15 to 20th Body Mass Index [BMI] percentile)
7. Group therapy for eating disorders
8. Individual psychotherapy psychotherapy (Cognitive-Behavioural Therapy [CBT])
9. Family-based therapy

Outpatient treatment includes:
1. Re-admission contract
2. One to two weekly individual psychotherapy including weight management and nutritional counselling (anorexia nervosa oriented CBT according to the evaluated manual-based outpatient program from Pike et al. 2003 adapted to adolescents)
3. Four-weekly family-based interventions (one hour/session) until week 52 (one-year follow-up)

Added 23/07/2010:
As of the above update date, a new follow-up was added to this record; patients will now also be followed-up in week 130 (1.5 years after the primary outcome).
Intervention typeBehavioural
Primary outcome measureCurrent primary outcome measures as of 05/02/2013:
Difference between BMI at admission, after one year and after two and a half years. Discontinuation of day treatment will be penalised appropriately. All treatment studies of AN have investigated weight gain during treatment and weight gain and weight maintenance after achievement of a target weight as major goals in the treatment of AN (e.g. British, American and German guidelines). BMI can be easily and objectively assessed even by general practitioners in case of relocations.

Previous primary outcome measures until 05/02/2013:
Difference between BMI after one year and at admission. Discontinuation of day treatment will be penalised appropriately. All treatment studies of AN have investigated weight gain during treatment and weight gain and weight maintenance after achievement of a target weight as major goals in the treatment of AN (e.g. British, American and German guidelines). BMI can be easily and objectively assessed even by general practitioners in case of relocations.
Secondary outcome measuresCurrent secondary outcome measures as of 05/02/2013:
The clinical claim in favour of day treatment will only be supported in the case of the rejection of the null hypothesis based on the primary outcome measure. However, due to limited follow-up time, even in this case additional outcome variables will be analysed to support the clinical claim.

The descriptive outcome measures comprise:
1. Difference between BMI after one year and at admission
2. Morgan-Russell criteria
3. BMI percentile
4. Improvement of eating disorder psychopathology (self report: Eating Disorder Inventory - 2 [EDI-2], structured interview: SIAB)
5. Depressive symptoms (patients: Depressionsinventar für Kinder und Jugendliche [Depression Inventory for Children and Adolescents] [DIKJ], parents: Beck Depression Inventory [BDI])
6. Obsessive-compulsive symptoms (Children’s Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale [CY-BOCS])
7. General psychopathology (Symptoms CheckList [SCL-90-R56])
8. Burden of parents (Brief Symptom Inventory [BSI])

At one-year follow-up additionally:
1. The number of relapses (hospitalisations)
2. Quality of life
3. Days of hospital treatment upon achievement of target weight

At two and half-year follow-up:
1. The number of relapses (hospitalisations)
2. Quality of life
3. Days of hospital treatment upon achievement of target weight
4. Treatment satisfaction

All psychometric outcome measures will be derived from validated and internationally used questionnaires and interviews.

Previous secondary outcome measures until 05/02/2013:
The clinical claim in favour of day treatment will only be supported in the case of the rejection of the null hypothesis based on the primary outcome measure. However, due to limited follow-up time, even in this case additional outcome variables will be analysed to support the clinical claim.

The descriptive outcome measures comprise:
1. Difference between BMI after one year and at admission
2. Morgan-Russell criteria
3. BMI percentile
4. Improvement of eating disorder psychopathology (self report: Eating Disorder Inventory - 2 [EDI-2], structured interview: SIAB)
5. Depressive symptoms (patients: Depressionsinventar für Kinder und Jugendliche [Depression Inventory for Children and Adolescents] [DIKJ], parents: Beck Depression Inventory [BDI])
6. Obsessive-compulsive symptoms (Children’s Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale [CY-BOCS])
7. General psychopathology (Symptoms CheckList [SCL-90-R56])
8. Burden of parents (Brief Symptom Inventory [BSI])

At one-year follow-up additionally:
1. The number of relapses (hospitalisations)
2. Quality of life
3. Days of hospital treatment upon achievement of target weight

All psychometric outcome measures will be derived from validated and internationally used questionnaires and interviews.
Overall study start date01/10/2006
Completion date31/10/2012

Eligibility

Participant type(s)Patient
Age groupChild
Lower age limit11 Years
Upper age limit18 Years
SexFemale
Target number of participants176 recruited in six hospitals
Key inclusion criteriaAmendments as of 23/07/2010:
As of the above date, point one below was updated as follows:
1. Female patients between 11 and 18 years

Initial information at time of registration:
1. Female patients between 12 and 18 years
2. At first admission to hospital treatment for AN according to Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of mental disorders - fourth edition (DSM-IV) criteria as assessed by the Structured Interview for Anorexic and Bulimic disorders (SIAB) (Fichter et al. 1998)
3. Reasonable distance from residence to hospital: less than 60 minutes by bus/train
4. Written informed consent of the patient and - if necessary - of her legal guardian
5. All patients have passed a somatical stabilisation of three weeks in an inpatient setting prior to randomisation
Key exclusion criteria1. Any psychotic or personality disorder
2. Current alcohol or other substance abuse disorder
3. Self-injury behaviours as assessed by a structured diagnostic interview (Kiddie-Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia [SADS], Delmo et al. 2001)
4. Insufficient ability to understand German (patients and parents)
5. Intelligence Quotient (IQ) less than 85
Date of first enrolment01/10/2006
Date of final enrolment31/10/2012

Locations

Countries of recruitment

  • Germany

Study participating centre

Universitätsklinikum Aachen
Aachen
52074
Germany

Sponsor information

German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (Bundesministerium Für Bildung und Forschung [BMBF]) (Germany)
Government

Heinemannstr. 2
Bonn
53175
Germany

Phone +49 (0)18 88 57 0
Email bmbf@bmbf.bund.de
Website http://www.bmbf.de/
ROR logo "ROR" https://ror.org/04pz7b180

Funders

Funder type

Government

Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung
Government organisation / National government
Alternative name(s)
Federal Ministry of Education and Research, BMBF
Location
Germany

Results and Publications

Intention to publish date
Individual participant data (IPD) Intention to shareNo
IPD sharing plan summaryNot provided at time of registration
Publication and dissemination planNot provided at time of registration
IPD sharing plan

Study outputs

Output type Details Date created Date added Peer reviewed? Patient-facing?
Results article results 15/11/2013 Yes No
Results article results 05/04/2014 Yes No

Editorial Notes

17/03/2017: Plain English summary added.
05/02/2013: The following changes were made to the trial record:
1. The target number of participants was updated from 170 to 176.
2. The overall trial end date was changed from 31/12/2012 to 31/10/2012.
23/07/2010: The overall trial end date was changed from 31/12/2009 to 31/12/2012.