TOPLINE:
Among young people with eating disorders, receipt of four to seven sessions of outpatient therapy in the 90 days after hospital discharge lowered the risk for rehospitalization during the following 3 months, with a greater reduction in risk among those who received nearly one session per week.
METHODOLOGY:
- Researchers analyzed data of youth with eating disorders from California’s Medicaid program, Medi-Cal, to examine whether outpatient therapy after an initial hospitalization for eating disorder treatment could reduce repeated readmissions.
- More than 900 individuals aged 7-18 years (82.1% girls) who were diagnosed with at least one eating disorder and were hospitalized at least once between January 2014 and December 2016 were included.
- The number of outpatient therapy sessions received within 90 days post-hospitalization was analyzed and categorized as low (zero to three sessions), moderate (four to seven sessions), or high (eight or more sessions); rehospitalizations over subsequent 90 days were assessed.
TAKEAWAY:
- Compared with individuals receiving zero to three sessions of therapy after discharge, those who received eight or more sessions had the lowest rate of rehospitalization (hazard ratio [HR], 0.04; P = .003), followed by those who received four to seven sessions (HR, 0.46; P = .026).
- Those who received eight or more sessions of therapy had a significantly lower risk for rehospitalization than those who received four to seven sessions (P = .024).
- Only 4.5% of participants received eight or more sessions of outpatient therapy.
IN PRACTICE:
“[The study] findings suggest that prompt access to regular outpatient therapy may be critical for disrupting cycles of repeated rehospitalizations, supporting recovery, and reducing costs for publicly insured youth,” the authors of the study wrote.
SOURCE:
This study was led by Megan E. Mikhail, MA, of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the University of California, San Francisco. It was published online on July 25, 2025, in Pediatrics.
LIMITATIONS:
Participants were not randomly assigned to receive different levels of therapy after hospitalization. Claims data did not specify whether therapy sessions targeted symptoms of eating disorders, general distress, or followed evidence-based protocols.
DISCLOSURES:
This study received support through a donation from the Deb family and a grant from the National Institute of Mental Health. One author reported serving as a consultant with Partnership HealthPlan of California.
This article was created using several editorial tools, including AI, as part of the process. Human editors reviewed this content before publication.