Screening for disordered eating in adolescents with Type 1 diabetes: A comparison of Diabetes Eating Problem Survey Revised (DEPS-R) and Youth Eating Disorder Examination Questionnaire (YEDE-Q) with item-level analysis

Abstract

Aims

People with type 1 diabetes (T1D) face an increased risk of disordered eating (DE) and eating disorders (ED), associated with glucose levels outside target range and an increased risk of complications. The aim of this study was to investigate the type and severity of DE and assess the item accuracy of the Diabetes Eating Problem Survey Revised (DEPS-R) compared to the Youth Eating Disorder Examination Questionnaire (YEDE-Q) in the screening of DE among adolescents with T1D.

Methods

Cross-sectional online survey including DEPS-R, YEDE-Q and medical records. Item to total analysis with correlations, and group comparisons were performed.

Results

A total of 131 adolescents between 11 and 19 (mean age 15.3 ± 2.2) years completed both DEPS-R and YEDE-Q, identifying 21.4% and 22.9% with DE, respectively. Significantly more females (>30%) than males (≈5%) were identified in both measures. More than 50% reported insulin restriction in DEPS-R vs. 1.5% in YEDE-Q. YEDE-Q yielded 32% with weight controlling behaviours, however, half of these were unidentified by DEPS-R. Item-total analysis of DEPS-R showed that item 10 had small correlations to both total score and clinical variables.

Conclusion

This study confirms the clinical relevance of DEPS-R, including associations between DE and female sex, older age, and glucose levels outside target range, however, it may not accurately capture distinct ED risk behaviours, such as excessive exercise or shape and weight related insulin restriction. The item-total analysis shows that the relevance of item 10 should be further investigated.