Assessment

Document Overview

Design and created by Guideline Central in participation with the American Psychiatric Association.

Treatment of Patients with Eating Disorders

American Psychiatric Association

Publication Date: Jul 17, 2022

Page Last Updated: May 5, 2026

Grading Recommendations

Grade	Description
1	Recommendation: indicates confidence that the benefits of the intervention clearly outweigh harms.
2	Suggestion: indicates greater uncertainty: although the benefits of the statement are still viewed as outweighing the harms, balance of benefits and harms is more difficult to judge, or the benefits or the harms may be less clear. With a suggestion, patient values and preferences may be more variable, and this can influence the clinical decision that is ultimately made.
Grade	Strength of Evidence
A	High: high confidence that the evidence reflects the true effect. Further research is very unlikely to change our confidence in the estimate of effect.
B	Moderate: moderate confidence that the evidence reflects the true effect. Further research may change our confidence in the estimate of effect and may change the estimate.
C	Low: low confidence that the evidence reflects the true effect. Further research is likely to change our confidence in the estimate of effect and is likely to change the estimate.

Document Overview

Document Title: Treatment of Patients with Eating Disorders

Authoring Society: American Psychiatric Association

Document Publication Date: Jul 17, 2022

Page Last Reviewed/Updated: May 5, 2026

Document Type: Guideline

Country of Publication: United States

Full Text Freely Available: Yes

Full Text Guideline: psychiatryonline.org/doi/book/10.1176/appi.books.9780890424865

Source Citation: American Psychiatric Association: Practice Guideline for the Treatment of Patients with Eating Disorders, Fourth Edition. Washington, DC, American Psychiatric Publishing 2023.

Supplemental Implementation Resources

Document Scope, Criteria, and Use Cases

Document Objectives: The goal of this guideline is to improve the quality of care and treatment outcomes for patients with eating disorders. As described in “Scope of Document,” we focus primarily on anorexia nervosa (AN), bulimia nervosa (BN), and binge-eating disorder (BED) rather than other DSM-defined feeding and eating disorders.

Scope: Assessment and Screening, Diagnosis, Management, Treatment

Diseases/Conditions (MeSH)

D001068 - Feeding and Eating Disorders

D056912 - Binge-Eating Disorder

D019959 - Feeding and Eating Disorders of Childhood

D004435 - Eating

D000855 - Anorexia

D000856 - Anorexia Nervosa

D002032 - Bulimia

D052018 - Bulimia Nervosa

D001068 - Feeding and Eating Disorders

D056912 - Binge-Eating Disorder

D019959 - Feeding and Eating Disorders of Childhood

D004435 - Eating

D000855 - Anorexia

D000856 - Anorexia Nervosa

D002032 - Bulimia

D052018 - Bulimia Nervosa

Keywords: anorexia, bulimia, eating disorder, eating disorders

Target Patient Population: adolescents, emerging adults, and adults with eating disorders

Inclusion Criteria: Male, Female, Adolescent, Adult, Child, Older Adult

Health Care Settings: Ambulatory, Hospital, Outpatient, School

Intended Users: Nurse, Nurse Practitioner, Physician, Physician Assistant, Psychologist

Recommendation Development Processes & Methodology

Number of Source Documents: 773

Includes peer/external review process?: Yes

Includes public comment process?: No

Methodologist involvement?: Yes

Patient involvement?: Yes

Includes multi-disciplinary group?: Yes

Includes systematic review?: Yes

Grades quality of strength of evidence?: Yes

Grades quality of strength of recommendation?: Yes

Discloses funding source?: Yes

Discloses conflicts of interest?: Yes

Includes benefits/harms analysis with recommendations?: Yes

Treatment of Patients with Eating Disorders

Assessment

Screening for Presence of an Eating Disorder

Statement 1

Initial Evaluation of Eating History

Statement 2

Quantitative Measures

Statement 3

Identification of Co-Occurring Conditions

Statement 4

Initial Review of Systems

Statement 5

Initial Physical Examination

Statement 6

Initial Laboratory Assessment

Statement 7

Initial Electrocardiogram

Statement 8

Treatment Plan, Including Level of Care

Statement 9

Grading Recommendations

Document Overview

Supplemental Implementation Resources

Document Scope, Criteria, and Use Cases

Recommendation Development Processes & Methodology