Age and gender changes in children and adolescent patients of a Brazilian eating disorder program

Background: International studies have demonstrated an increase in the prevalence of boys and a decrease of patients' age at the beginning of outpatient treatment for eating disorders (ED). Objective: To evaluate if these changes are also present in the Brazilian population participating in the PROTAD, a Brazilian ED program, and to discuss its clinical implication for treatment. Methods: Cross-sectional study. We evaluated 150 medical records of patients under 18 years diagnosed with ED (DSM IV-TR). Patients were divided into two groups: G1 (2001-2007) (n = 77) and G2 (2008-2014) (n = 73). The girl/boy proportion and the mean age of patients were compared. Results: In G1, six boys (7.8%) were admitted (girl/boy proportion: 11.8:1), while in G2, 16 (22%) boys were admitted (girl/boy proportion: 3.5:1) (p < 0.05). The mean age in G1 was 15.6 years (SD = 1.7; 95%CI: 15.2-15.9), whereas the mean age in G2 was 14.9 years (SD - 1.9; 95%CI: 14.4-15.3) (p > 0.05). Discussion: The increase in the number of boys treated for EDs reported in international studies was also found at the PROTAD. Contrary to what has been reported in international studies, the mean age of patients at the PROTAD did not decrease significantly. Gender and sexual orientation issues, clinical presentation, prior overweight history and culture/media impact on boys should be addressed by the healthcare team to increase the therapeutic efficacy.