Prevalence of disordered eating in adults with type 1 diabetes in an Australian metropolitan hospital

The purpose of this study is to establish the prevalence of disordered eating behaviours and establish its identifiable factors in adults with T1D attending a large tertiary hospital service. In this cross-sectional study, 199 participants with TID, aged 18–65 years, completed the revised Diabetes Eating Problem Survey-Revised (DEPS-R). Additional demographic and medical data obtained included age, sex, BMI, HbA1C, duration of diabetes and number of hospital admissions within 12 months (including diabetic ketoacidosis). A DEPS-R score of ≥20, indicative of disordered eating behaviour, was evident in 31% of participants. A DEPS-R score of ≥20 was associated with being female (39% females vs. 23.3% males; p =.016) and a high HbA1c (8.9% [7.8–10.2] vs. 8.0% [7.3–8.7], median [IQR], p <.001). The prevalence of disordered eating behaviours increased significantly with BMI, from 21.3% in the healthy BMI group (18.5–24.9 kg/m²) to 37.1% in the group with BMI > 25 kg/m² (p =.02). A DEPS-R score of ≥20 was often driven by questions related to a desire to lose weight, meal patterns and glycaemic control. While these behaviours may be attributed to desirable self-management behaviours for adults with T1D, the DEPS-R is still a useful tool to identify patients with potential disordered eating behaviours and the need for dietetic intervention.