The Short Treatment Allocation Tool for Eating Disorders: current practices in assigning patients to level of care

The objective of this research was to examine the extent to which current practices are in alignment withSTATED recommendations.MethodParticipants were 179 healthcare professionals providing care for youth and/or adults with eating disorders. They completed an online survey and rated the extent to which three patient dimensions (medical stability,symptom severity, andreadiness) were used in assigning patients to each of five levels of care.ResultsThe majority of analyses testing a priori hypotheses based on theSTATED were statistically significant (allp’s <  .001), in the direction ofSTATED recommendations. However, a strict coding scheme evaluating the extent to which ratings were fully consistent with theSTATED showed inconsistency rates ranging from 17 to 55% across the five levels of care, with the greatest inconsistencies involving the use ofreadiness information, and the lowest involving the use ofmedical stability information.DiscussionAlthough practices were generally aligned with theSTATED recommendations, readiness information was used least consistently in assigning patients to level of care.
Source: Journal of Eating Disorders - Category: Eating Disorders & Weight Management Source Type: research