The Impact of The Covid-19 Pandemic on Adolescent Neuropsychiatric Admissions for Anorexic Eating Disorders Throughout the 2013-2022 Decade

Objective: The purpose of this study is to evaluate the impact that Covid-19 pandemic and the related restrictive measures have had on minors diagnosed with eating disorders (EDs), in particular Anorexia nervosa (AN) and restrictive unspecified EDs, both on an epidemiological and on a clinical level.Methods: We considered AN and restrictive unspecified EDs cases treated in the years 2013-2022 in Padua Hospital’s Child Neuropsychiatry ward, the 97 patients were then divided into two groups, one dated before the pandemic’s start and one dated after. We then analyzed the differences using data collected from medical records and from the Youth Self Report (YSR) tests performed.Results:Our study confirms a large increase in the number of cases of AN and restrictive EDs during the pandemic/post-pandemic period, the clinical characteristics of these cases instead seem substantially unchanged compared to the pre-pandemic ones.Conclusions:The pandemic has led to a large increase in the number of these EDs, underlining the need for attention to the topic and for new measures aimed at primary and secondary prevention.