Abstract
The aim of the study was to determine whether physicians consider anorexia ner vosa as a possible diagnosis in children and adolescents presenting various somatic symptoms including significant weight loss. Questionnaires were handed out to participants of a nationa general medical congress in Austria. The questionnaire included two case vignettes of children with anorexia nervosa and questions about diagnosis, differential diagnoses and management Anorexia nervosa was considered as possible primary diagnosis in both cases by 3.8% of the respondents and 11.4% suspected a psychosomatic or psychiatric disorder as primary diagnosis in both cases. These findings demonstrate a limited awareness of anorexia nervosa and of a psy chosomatic or psychiatric origin of somatic symptoms including weight loss in children and ado lescents among physicians. Recognizing anorexia nervosa in an early stage and referring the patients for a psychiatric evaluation as soon as possible is a prerequisite for specialized treatmen and might improve the long-term outcome of this severe disorder. Increased educational efforts are required to improve the knowledge among primary care physicians about eating disorders.
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Karwautz, A., de Zwaan, M., Wöber-Bingöl, Ç. et al. Awareness of early-onset anorexia nervosa. Eat Weight Disord 2, 138–143 (1997). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03339964
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03339964