Advances in Adolescent and Young Adult Eating Disorder Care in Rhode Island.

INTRODUCTION Medical providers in primary care practice are at the forefront of diagnosis and management of adolescents and young adults with eating disorders (ED). As a result, they play a critical role in establishing an interdisciplinary treatment plan that will help stabilize patients and move them towards recovery. While ED are prevalent among adolescents and young adults in the United States1 and are among the most common chronic illnesses of adolescence, they can present a diagnostic challenge in the primary care setting. Diagnostic criteria for ED were recently modified in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, 5th Edition,2 allowing clinicians to more accurately identify a variety of ED including anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, binge eating disorder, avoidant-restrictive food intake disorder, and feeding or eating disorder not elsewhere classified (Table 1). Clinicians are increasingly recognizing ED in previously overlooked groups, including males,3 transgender individuals,4,5 and overweight/ obese adolescents.6 This article briefly describes strategies to identify ED in the primary care setting. We include treatment options available for adolescents and young adults with ED in Rhode Island, and summarize the inpatient treatment approach at Hasbro Children’s Hospital for ED patients in medical crisis. We provide an overview of Family Based Treatment, a new evidence-based treatment approach for adolescents and young adults with ED.7