Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: http://doi.org/10.25358/openscience-7694
Authors: Wolter, Vanessa
Hammerle, Florian
Buerger, Arne
Ernst, Verena
Title: Prevention of eating disorders : efficacy and cost-benefit of a school-based program (“MaiStep”) in a randomized controlled trial (RCT)
Online publication date: 7-Sep-2022
Year of first publication: 2021
Language: english
Abstract: Objective Given the severity of eating disorders, effective and easily implementable prevention programs which reduce incidence rates and in addition have health-economic benefits are essential. The majority of research on prevention programs focuses on questionnaire-based efficacy or the reduction of eating disorder symptoms while neglecting the health-economic perspective. By contrast, the present study focuses on both an efficacy analysis considering diagnostic criteria (DSM-5) and on evaluating the cost-benefit of a universal prevention program for eating disorders (“MaiStep”). Method A three-arm randomized controlled trial with baseline, posttreatment and 12-month follow-up was conducted with 1,654 adolescents (M = 13.35, SD = 0.76), comprising two intervention groups (MaiStep delivered by psychologists or teachers, IG-T) and an active control group (ACG). The primary outcome was DSM-5 eating disorder diagnosis measured with the SIAB-S. Furthermore, the costs of the prevention program and the savings in health care costs were calculated. Results A significant difference in eating disorder diagnosis was found between the IG-T and the ACG for posttreatment (χ2(1= 7.352, p = .007), Relative Risk (RR) = .53 and 12-month follow-up (χ2 (1= 5.203, p = .023), RR = .61. MaiStep proved to be cost-effective (tcbr = 6.75), saving about 560,000 € (standardized per 1,000 students = 601,388.19 €). Discussion Universal prevention can both reduce incidence rates of eating disorders and be cost-beneficial for health care systems. Future research should analyze prevention programs regarding efficacy and cost-benefit to enable comparability and derive guidelines for political decision-makers.
DDC: 610 Medizin
610 Medical sciences
Institution: Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz
Department: FB 04 Medizin
Place: Mainz
ROR: https://ror.org/023b0x485
DOI: http://doi.org/10.25358/openscience-7694
Version: Published version
Publication type: Zeitschriftenaufsatz
License: CC BY-NC-ND
Information on rights of use: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
Journal: The international journal of eating disorders
54
10
Pages or article number: 1855
1864
Publisher: Wiley
Publisher place: New York, NY
Issue date: 2021
ISSN: 1098-108X
Publisher DOI: 10.1002/eat.23599
Appears in collections:JGU-Publikationen

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