Evaluation of a New Treatment Program for Adolescents With Eating Disorders: MINERVA Program

Launched by FUNDACIÓ SANT JOAN DE DÉU · May 21, 2024

Keywords

ClinConnect Summary

The MINERVA Program is a clinical trial designed to evaluate a new treatment approach for adolescents struggling with eating disorders, such as anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, and binge-eating disorder. The study will involve 60 young participants, aged 12 to 17, who have not responded well to previous treatments. They will go through a four-phase program that includes inpatient treatment, family support, home care, and community recovery. The trial will also compare these participants to another group of 60 adolescents who received treatment in the past, looking at factors like weight, eating disorder symptoms, recovery status, and overall patient experience over time.

To be eligible for the trial, participants must have a diagnosed eating disorder and have faced challenges in getting better despite receiving treatment. Both the young patients and their parents need to agree to participate by signing consent forms. Throughout the study, researchers will assess various aspects of the participants’ health and well-being, including their mental health and family dynamics, to understand how effective this new treatment program is. This trial is currently recruiting participants, and it aims to provide valuable insights into better care for adolescents with eating disorders.

Gender

ALL

Eligibility criteria

• Inclusion Criteria for the prospective experimental group:
• • Patient diagnosed with an Eating Disorder (according to the DSM-5) through a semi-structured interview (K-SADS PL-5)
• • Aged between 12 and 17 years old
• • Both patients and parents are willing to participate in the study and sign the informed consent to accept participation
• * Patient with a poor response to treatment, defined as having one of the following two conditions:
• • 1. undergoing over a year of treatment, including partial and total hospitalization, without symptom stabilization, experiencing severe psychological distress, eating symptomatology, comorbidities, or family dysfunction during this period (clinical improvement of at least 50 on the CGAS functioning scale) OR
• • 2. undergoing more than three admissions without symptom stabilization (clinical improvement of at least 50 on the CGAS functioning scale).
• Exclusion criteria for the prospective group:
• • Acute ED pathology and biological decompensation that require urgent pediatric attention or admission to an acute psychiatric ward.
• Inclusion criteria for the retrospective control group:
• • Aged between 12 and 17 years old
• • Diagnosed with an Eating Disorder (according to the DSM-5)
• • Received treatment in Sant Joan de Déu between 2012 and 2022
• * Patient with a poor response to treatment, defined as having one of the following two conditions:
• • 1. undergoing over a year of treatment, including partial or total hospitalization, without achieving stabilization of ED symptomatology (needing high-intensive treatment units i.e. not being able to follow individual treatment in external consultations) OR
• • 2. undergoing more than three admissions without symptom stabilization once referred to partial hospitalization in less than one year, including a similar psychological state and characteristics as the first condition
• Exclusion criteria for the retrospective control group:
• • Missingness of 20% or more of the required data