Evaluating and Implementing a Smartphone Application Treatment Program for Bulimia Nervosa and Binge Eating Disorder

The prevalence of bulimia nervosa (BN) is approximately 1.0-1.5% among women. With consistently higher prevalence rates, binge eating disorder (BED) affects up to 3.5% of women and 1.5% of men. These eating disorders represent a public health concern due to the high comorbidity of BN and BED with other psychiatric disorders and the association with poor physical health outcomes.

Given this public health impact, it is concerning that less than half of BN and BED patients seek treatment for their eating disorder. This is especially concerning since a greater duration of untreated illness is associated with a poorer prognosis. Individuals' reluctance to seek treatment is likely due to factors such as an avoidance of disclosing symptoms to family members or clinicians. For example, one study reported that 27% of adolescents with BN declined participation because they did not want their families involved. Even for those who do wish to engage, treatment is often inaccessible due to the geographic centralization of eating disorder specialists and a low ratio of specialists to patients.

Given the ubiquity of smartphone devices among adults and adolescents, one possible way to improve treatment accessibility and privacy is to offer it through a smartphone app. In recent development, an evidence-based smartphone app called Recovery Record (RR) has been conceived for use by people suffering from eating disorders as an adjunct to clinical treatment. This tool allows patients to self-monitor eating behaviours, connect with their clinician directly through the app, and provides other therapeutic features (e.g. cues coping skill use). Preliminary findings suggest that the app is feasible, with 67% of users continuing to log meals at 30 days. As well, RR is currently the most downloaded, most rated, and highest rated app of its kind, which suggests it is highly acceptable among users.

In support of these findings, one study demonstrated that 26% of app users in a clinically severe range at baseline demonstrated clinically significant reductions in eating disorder symptoms at least 28 days later, which is consistent with other forms of self-help for BN. Moreover, 89% of users reported that using Recovery Record helped their condition from getting worse and a majority reported improvements to the frequency of disordered behaviours, reported urges, and mood.

App developers have outfitted the app with an adaptive 8-week program that automatically uses patient data to tailor treatment for individual users (i.e. an automated pure self-help course of treatment). Although pure self-help is efficacious for BN and BED, self-help augmented by coaching (from a health care profession) has been associated with even better outcomes (with a moderate effect size). Given the support for this smartphone app and this potential avenue for providing private and accessible care to Nova Scotians, the aim of this study is to assess the efficacy of this adaptive smartphone app program, both coached and uncoached, for BN and BED patients.