Background Only one in four people with eating disorders seeks treatment, and of those who do seek treatment, 20% go on to experience a chronic course. Early intervention has been associated with better prognosis, with those seeking specialised intervention in the early stages of their illness more than twice as likely to achieve remission. Current screening measures typically require expert administration and are rarely validated across a spectrum of DSM-5 eating disorder presentations or for online use. In light of COVID-19 and increasing reliance on telehealth technologies in the intervention and delivery of mental health services, online assessments suitable for self-referral are likely to be the first step to seeking care. InsideOut Institute has developed a 6-item online screening tool for the purposes of identifying eating disorder risk and symptomatology, aimed specifically at increasing help-seeking behaviour in subsyndromal and early presentations. Methods This study investigates the reliability and validity of the InsideOut Institute Screener (IOI-S), using a cross-sectional survey research design. Participants aged 14 and over will complete an extensive baseline survey battery for evaluation. 50% of participants will be randomly selected for one follow-up re-test of the IOI-S only, 2 weeks post initial testing. The IOI-S will be analysed for statistical reliability on two parameters: internal consistency and test re-test reliability, and for statistical validity on four parameters: concurrent validity, sensitivity and specificity, convergent and discriminant validity. Discussion The rapid and ongoing shift to digital intervention has highlighted gaps and opportunities in our pathways to care. Adequate screening for eating disorders is a major gap. This study aims to validate an online screening tool for use in telehealth early intervention, designed for users seeking information for a suspected eating disorder. The screener meets those at risk ‘where they are’ (i.e. online) and may improve timely referrals to relevant services. This is of particular salience as face-to-face healthcare and traditional frontline interventions are disrupted, and we are challenged to re-design our practices to deliver diagnostic and treatment services in highly adaptive digital contexts.

中文翻译：

---

过渡到数字化一线干预——验证简短的在线筛查程序以早期识别疑似饮食失调：研究方案


背景 只有四分之一的饮食失调患者寻求治疗，而在寻求治疗的人中，20% 的人会继续经历慢性病程。早期干预与更好的预后相关，那些在疾病早期寻求专门干预的人获得缓解的可能性是其两倍以上。目前的筛查措施通常需要专家管理，并且很少在一系列 DSM-5 饮食失调演示或在线使用中得到验证。鉴于 COVID-19 以及在干预和提供心理健康服务方面对远程医疗技术的日益依赖，适合自我转诊的在线评估可能是寻求护理的第一步。 InsideOut Institute 开发了一种包含 6 项的在线筛查工具，旨在识别饮食失调风险和症状，特别旨在增加亚综合征和早期表现的寻求帮助行为。方法 本研究采用横断面调查研究设计，调查了 InsideOut Institute Screener (IOI-S) 的可靠性和有效性。 14 岁及以上的参与者将完成一系列广泛的基线调查以进行评估。首次测试后 2 周，将随机选择 50% 的参与者仅进行一次 IOI-S 后续重新测试。将分析 IOI-S 的两个参数的统计可靠性：内部一致性和重测可靠性，以及四个参数的统计有效性：并发有效性、敏感性和特异性、收敛有效性和判别有效性。讨论 向数字干预的快速且持续的转变凸显了我们护理途径中的差距和机遇。对饮食失调的充分筛查是一个主要差距。 这项研究旨在验证一种用于远程医疗早期干预的在线筛查工具，该工具专为寻求疑似饮食失调信息的用户而设计。筛查人员会在“所在地”（即在线）与那些处于危险中的人会面，并可能会及时转介相关服务。随着面对面的医疗保健和传统的一线干预措施被破坏，这一点尤为突出，我们面临着重新设计我们的实践以在高度适应性的数字环境中提供诊断和治疗服务的挑战。