Agreeing a set of biopsychosocial variables for collection across the UK Eating Disorders Clinical Research Network (EDCRN):A consensus study using adapted nominal group technique

Background: Eating disorders are serious psychiatric disorders associated with high levels of co-occurring physical and mental health conditions and poor treatment outcomes. The collection of standardised, routinely collected data within clinical services holds promise to improve patient care. Objective: To agree on a set of biopsychosocial variables for routine data collection within eating disorder services in the UK.Methods: Two online workshops were conducted using an adapted nominal group technique to agree on priorities for data collection in adult and child/adolescent eating disorder services. Workshop participants (n=43) consisted of people with lived experience, carers, clinicians and researchers. Two researchers independently conducted a reflexive thematic analysis of the workshop transcripts to identify qualitative priorities for data collection. Descriptive statistics were used to analyse the results of online voting. Findings: Thematic analysis identified four superordinate themes for data collection in eating disorder services: (1) a mutually valued and beneficial collaboration; (2) a holistic approach; (3) a balance between standardisation and individualisation; (4) doing no harm. Quantitative analysis of voting identified priorities across a range of domains, leading to a proposed biopsychosocial dataset.Conclusions: This project agreed on a set of biopsychosocial variables for routine data collection in the UK Eating Disorders Clinical Research Network. Further research should evaluate the implementation success of these variables.Clinical implications: Patients, caregivers, and clinicians support routine data collection in eating disorders services so long as the measures used are considered meaningful, not overly burdensome, non-stigmatising, and collected in collaboration between patients and treatment providers. <br/

Eating disorders and pregnancy

Hope Virgo shares her experiences of pregnancy and eating disorders, and gives advice for midwives looking to support those with a diagnosis or history of these disorders </jats:p

Agreeing a set of biopsychosocial variables for collection across the UK Eating Disorders Clinical Research Network (EDCRN)

Background: Eating disorders are serious psychiatric disorders associated with high levels of co-occurring physical and mental health conditions, high rates of relapse and poor treatment outcomes. The collection of standardised, routinely collected data within clinical services holds promise to improve patient care. Proposals for standardised variables for collection in eating disorders services have been made, but not implemented, and have included limited biological measures. Given emerging evidence about the importance of metabolism and other biological factors in eating disorders, there is a need for such measures to be integrated into routine data collection. Objective: To agree on a set of biopsychosocial variables for routine data collection within eating disorder services in the United Kingdom. Methods: Two online workshops were conducted using an adapted nominal group technique to agree priorities for data collection in adult (n= 20) and child/adolescent (n=23) eating disorder services (n = 43 participants, comprised of people with lived experience, carers, clinicians and researchers). Two researchers independently conducted a reflexive thematic analysis of the workshop transcripts to identify qualitative priorities for data collection. Descriptive statistics were used to analyse the results of online voting. Measures and variables were chosen based on the priority-setting workshops, informed by prior work on psychometric properties of relevant measures. Findings: Thematic analysis identified four superordinate themes for data collection in eating disorder services: (1) a mutually valued and beneficial collaboration; (2) a holistic approach; (3) a balance between standardisation and individualisation; (4) doing no harm. Quantitative analysis of voting identified priorities across a range of domains Conclusions: This project agreed a set of biopsychosocial variables which have been implemented for routine data collection as part of the Eating Disorders Clinical Research Network. Further research should investigate the implementation of these variables for data collection in eating disorder services and identify priorities for data collection in under-represented groups such as people with experience of binge eating disorder. Clinical implications: Patients, caregivers, and clinicians support routine data collection in eating disorders services so long as the measures used are considered meaningful, not overly burdensome, non-stigmatising and collected as a collaboration between patients and treatment providers

Negotiorum Gestio: a civilian concept in the Common Law?

This paper assesses whether English law recognizes a concept of negotiorum gestio. Claimants intervening in other' affairs and seeking restitution or reimbursement of expenses are often labeled ‘officious’, and disallowed relief. That, however, gives a misleading impression of English law. English law does recognize a concept of negotiorum gestio, which while very different to that found in German law, has parallels to versions found in other Civilian systems. It provides a cause of action to recover the intervenor's expenses, and any loss suffered during the intervention. It also provides a defence to the intervenor's intentional torts, although negligent intervenors will remain liable for their negligence

The United Kingdom Eating Disorders Genetics Initiative.

Funder: Economic and Social Research Council; doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100000269Funder: The Lord Leverhulme Charitable GrantFunder: Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust; doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100004941OBJECTIVE: The United Kingdom Eating Disorders Genetics Initiative (EDGI UK), part of the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Mental Health BioResource, aims to deepen our understanding of the environmental and genetic etiology of eating disorders. EDGI UK launched in February 2020 and is partnered with the UK eating disorders charity, Beat. Multiple EDGI branches exist worldwide. This article serves the dual function of providing an in-depth description of our study protocol and of describing our initial sample including demographics, diagnoses, and physical and psychiatric comorbidities. METHOD: EDGI UK recruits via media and clinical services. Anyone living in England, at least 16 years old, with a lifetime probable or clinical eating disorder is eligible to sign up online: edgiuk.org. Participants complete online questionnaires, donate a saliva sample for genetic analysis, and consent to medical record linkage and recontact for future studies. RESULTS: As of September 2022, EDGI UK recruited 7435 survey participants: 98% female, 93.1% white, 97.8% cisgender, 65.9% heterosexual, and 52.1% have a university degree. Over half (57.8%) of these participants have returned their saliva DNA kit. The most common diagnoses are anorexia nervosa (48.3%), purging disorder (37.8%), bulimia nervosa (37.5%), binge-eating disorder (15.8%), and atypical anorexia nervosa (7.8%). CONCLUSION: EDGI UK is the largest UK eating disorders study and efforts to increase its diversity are underway. It offers a unique opportunity to accelerate eating disorder research. Researchers and participants with lived experience can collaborate on projects with unparalleled sample size. PUBLIC SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT: Eating disorders are debilitating and costly for society but are under-researched due to underfunding. EDGI UK is one of the largest eating disorder studies worldwide with ongoing recruitment. The collected data constitute a resource for secondary analysis. We will combine data from all international EDGI branches and the NIHR BioResource to facilitate research that improves our understanding of eating disorders and their comorbidities