Eating Disorders in People living with Chronic pain
| Key things to know | What the evidence shows |
|---|---|
| How common is it? | Not established general chronic-pain population |
| Is it more common among people living with chronic pain? | Eating problems are common but diagnostic ED prevalence insufficiently established |
| Are people living with chronic pain at higher risk? | Some evidence |
| How much higher is the risk? | One adolescent intensive pain cohort: 19.1% clinically diagnosed ED, highly selected |
| How often can it be missed? | Very High |
| Does it show up differently among people living with chronic pain? | Yes |
| How might it look different? | Pain, nausea, GI symptoms or elimination diets can encourage avoidance/restriction; ED may be overlooked |
| What commonly occurs alongside it? | PTSD; anxiety; depression |
| What can it be confused with? | Medication-induced appetite changes; GI problems; pain-related appetite loss |
| Common screening tool | SCOFF |
| Separate screening tool for people living with chronic pain | EAT-16-Chronic Pain validated in adolescents with chronic pain |
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