SynthesisThe International journal of eating disorders2026
Patterns of Uptake, Engagement, and Attrition in Randomized Controlled Trials of Digital Interventions for Eating Disorders: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.
Synthesis in The International journal of eating disorders, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
3 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Patterns of Uptake, Engagement, and Attrition in Randomized Controlled Trials of Digital Interventions for Eating Disorders: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.The International journal of eating disorders · 2026Pooled it
- Developing Transdiagnostic Single-Session Interventions for University Students Experiencing Disordered Eating: A Mixed-Method Co-Design Study.The International journal of eating disorders · 2026Article
- Lessons learned from a randomised controlled trial of a digital intervention targeting eating disorder symptoms in cisgender sexual minoritized men.Journal of eating disorders · 2026Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveThis review aimed to quantify rates of uptake (treatment initiation), adherence (program completion), and attrition (study dropout) in randomized trials of digital eating disorder (ED) interventions, and to synthesize engagement reporting practices, their consistency, and associations with clinical outcomes.
methodsRandomized trials of digital interventions (web, app, computerized, chatbots, etc.) delivered to people with diagnostic, subthreshold, or self-reported EDs were included. Random-effects meta-analyses were conducted to compute absolute rates of uptake, adherence, and attrition, while a narrative synthesis summarized engagement patterns and reporting.
resultsForty-eight trials were included. The weighted mean uptake rate from 44 intervention conditions was 89.7% (95% PI = 67.0-97.0) and the weighted mean adherence rate from 14 intervention conditions was 41.8% (95% PI = 0.9-83.3). These estimates remained similar in a series of sensitivity analyses that adjusted for biases, outliers, and when limiting to specific clinical population groups. The weighted trial attrition rate was 23.3% (95% PI = 0.8-54.4); for intervention arms specificially it was 29.7% (95% PI = 9.7-62.3) and for waitlist arms it was 18.7% (95% PI = 4.6-52.3). Attrition was lower in trials that had human-participant interaction, offered therapeutic guidance, provided monetary reimbursement, tested a web/computer program (compared to a smartphone application), and had a longer follow-up (> 6 weeks). Reporting of engagement was inconsistent and heterogeneous, with nearly 90 different metrics recorded across trials. There was some evidence linking sustained user engagement to greater clinical benefit.
conclusionFindings offer practical benchmarks to inform future trial planning and highlight design elements that could be leveraged to enhance user engagement and retention.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.