ArticleJournal of eating disorders2026
Bridging inpatient and community treatment: feasibility, acceptability, and short-term outcomes of step care, a virtual CBT-E pathway for adults with severe eating disorders.
Article in Journal of eating disorders, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
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
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundTransitions between inpatient and community care carry a high risk of disengagement or relapse for adults with severe eating disorders. Step Care was developed to address this gap by adapting intensive enhanced cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT-E) for remote, multidisciplinary delivery in patients' homes. The virtual service operates through three pathways, Starting Well, Staying Well, and Working Towards Recovery, and aims to improve engagement, reduce hospitalisation, and prevent relapse.
methodThis paper describes the Step Care service innovation and reports a prospective service evaluation examining its feasibility, acceptability, and short-term outcomes. All patients referred between June 2023 and June 2025 were included. Quantitative outcomes included body mass index (BMI), Eating Disorder Examination Questionnaire (EDE-Q), Clinical Impairment Assessment (CIA), Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9), and Generalised Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7), measured at admission and discharge. Illustrative qualitative feedback from patients, carers, and staff is presented.
resultsOf the 124 referrals, 66 patients commenced treatment (Starting Well, n = 34; Staying Well, n = 22; Working Towards Recovery, n = 10). The mean age was 32.1 years (SD = 12.0), and the mean illness duration was 12.9 years (SD = 11.0); 90% were female and 94% were White British. Completion rates were between 80 and 94% across pathways. In Starting Well, significant improvements were observed in BMI, eating disorder symptoms, psychosocial impairment, and depressive symptoms (all p < 0.01). In Staying Well, BMI was maintained with improved psychosocial functioning (CIA, p = 0.048). In Working Towards Recovery, BMI change was limited, but psychosocial impairment improved (CIA, p = 0.024). Overall, 77% were discharged to community care, 14% required planned admission to hospital, and one required an unplanned admission.
conclusionsStep Care is a feasible, acceptable, and effective virtual model for delivering intensive CBT-E at key transition points between inpatient and community care. Engagement and completion were high, including among patients with severe and long-standing illness. Short-term improvements were observed in weight and psychosocial functioning, alongside consistently positive feedback from patients, carers, and staff. These findings support further evaluation of long-term outcomes and cost-effectiveness.
Indexed as
Identifiers
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.