eBalanse – A digital treatment for young people with eating disorders

Together with young people who have experienced eating disorders, we have developed a digital treatment that we want to be available in BUP, and also as self-help treatment. In this way, we want to help young people in an early stage before they need face-to-face treatment.

Recruitment
In order to determine whether the treatment is useful, we are looking for 60 young people aged 15-18 years with mild to moderate eating disorders, who want to test out the ten-week treatment. This is suitable for young people who have thoughts about food and body in a way that it interferes with everyday functions, e.g. such as irregular eating, body checking, excessive exercise, etc. Recruitment will last during 2024 and 2025.

At this time, adolescents with severe eating disorders (for example, BMI below 18 or frequent vomiting) cannot participate in the study. The patient is followed up by a therapist in BUP for 10 weeks with weekly phone calls in addition to work in the eBalanse app.

Criteria for participation in the research study
The study has been approved by the Regional Ethics Committee, and is supported by the Research Council of Norway and the Norwegian Directorate of Health. In order to participate, young people must have reached the age of 15, and not turn 19 before completing the study.

Inclusion criteria:

• F 50.1 Atypical anorexia nervosa (atypical anorexia)
• F50.3 Atypical bulimia nervosa (atypical bulimia)
• F50.8 Other specified eating disorders
• F50.9 Unspecified eating disorder
• Stable dose of medication for another comorbid mental disorder for a minimum of six weeks.

We cannot include people with the following diagnoses (exclusion criteria):

• F 50.0 Anorexia nervosa (anorexia)
• F 50.2 Bulimia nervosa (bulimia)
• F 50.82 Patients with avoidant restrictive food intake disorders will not be included in the study since it is often part of a developmental disorder and the clinical picture is different from the other eating disorders.
• F80-F89: severe language difficulties/reading and writing (Developmental disorder)
• A medical condition/disease known to affect eating and weight (e.g. pregnancy, cancer), psychotic disorder, severely depressed, substance abuse/addiction, acutely suicidal
• Is admitted to a ward due to a mental disorder
• Receiving other psychological treatment

The results of the study will be published in recognized journals by PhD fellow Guri Holgersen and be part of her doctorate.

If you have any further questions about the study or the project, please contact us at studie.forhelse@helse-bergen.no. Sign up for the study.

Project Manager
Tine Nordgreen