Background Eating disorders are serious conditions associated with an impaired health-related quality of life and increased healthcare utilization and costs. Despite the existence of evidence-based treatments, access to treatment is often delayed due to insufficient health care resources. Internet-based self-help interventions may have the potential to successfully bridge waiting time for face-to-face outpatient treatment and, thus, contribute to overcoming treatment gaps. However, little is known about the feasibility of implementing such interventions into routine healthcare. The aim of this study is to analyze the effects and feasibility of an Internet-based self-help intervention (everyBody Plus) specifically designed for patients with Bulimia Nervosa, Binge Eating Disorder and other specified feeding and eating disorders (OSFED) on a waiting list for outpatient face-to-face treatment. The aim of this paper is to describe the study protocol. Methods A multi-country randomized controlled trial will be conducted in Germany and the UK. N = 275 female patients awaiting outpatient treatment will be randomly allocated either to the guided online self-help intervention “everyBody Plus” or a waitlist control group condition without access to the intervention. everyBody Plus comprises eight weekly sessions that cover topics related to eating and exercise patterns, coping with negative emotions and stress as well as improving body image. Participants will receive weekly individualized feedback based on their self-monitoring and journal entries. Assessments will take place at baseline, post-intervention as well as at 6- and 12-months follow up. In addition, all participants will be asked to monitor core eating disorder symptoms weekly to provide data on the primary outcome. The primary outcome will be number of weeks after randomization until a patient achieves a clinically relevant improvement in core symptoms (BMI, binge eating, compensatory behaviors) for the first time. Secondary outcomes include frequency of core symptoms and eating disorder related attitudes and behaviors, as well as associated psychopathology. Additional secondary outcomes will be the participating therapists' confidence in treating eating disorders as well as perceived benefits of everyBody Plus for patients. Discussion To the best of our knowledge, this is the first randomized controlled trial examining the effects of Internet-based self-help for outpatients with eating disorders awaiting face-to-face outpatient treatment. If proven to be effective and successfully implemented, Internet-based self-help programs might be used as a first step of treatment within a stepped-care approach, thus reducing burden and cost for both patients and health care providers.

中文翻译：

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使用基于互联网的自助来缩短神经性贪食症、暴食症和相关疾病面对面门诊治疗的等待时间：一项随机对照试验的研究方案。

背景饮食失调是与健康相关的生活质量受损以及医疗保健利用率和成本增加相关的严重疾病。尽管存在循证治疗，但由于医疗保健资源不足，往往会延迟获得治疗。基于互联网的自助干预可能有可能成功地缩短面对面门诊治疗的等待时间，从而有助于克服治疗差距。然而，关于在常规医疗保健中实施此类干预措施的可行性知之甚少。本研究的目的是分析专为神经性贪食症患者设计的基于互联网的自助干预（everyBody Plus）的效果和可行性，暴食症和其他特定的进食障碍 (OSFED) 在门诊面对面治疗的候补名单上。本文的目的是描述研究方案。方法将在德国和英国进行多国随机对照试验。N = 275 名等待门诊治疗的女性患者将被随机分配到指导性在线自助干预“everyBody Plus”或等候名单对照组条件，而无法获得干预。everyBody Plus 包括八周课程，涵盖与饮食和锻炼模式、应对负面情绪和压力以及改善身体形象有关的主题。参与者将每周收到基于他们的自我监控和日记条目的个性化反馈。评估将在基线进行，干预后以及 6 个月和 12 个月的随访。此外，将要求所有参与者每周监测核心饮食失调症状，以提供有关主要结果的数据。主要结果将是随机分组后的周数，直到患者首次在核心症状（BMI、暴食、代偿行为）方面取得临床相关改善。次要结果包括核心症状的频率和与饮食失调相关的态度和行为，以及相关的精神病理学。其他次要结果将是参与治疗的治疗师对治疗饮食失调的信心以及everyBody Plus 对患者的感知益处。讨论 据我们所知，这是第一个随机对照试验，检查基于互联网的自助对等待面对面门诊治疗的饮食失调门诊患者的影响。如果证明有效并成功实施，基于互联网的自助计划可能会被用作阶梯式护理方法中的第一步治疗，从而减轻患者和医疗保健提供者的负担和成本。