title: Detecting eating disorder patients in a general practice setting: a systematic review of heterogeneous data on clinical outcomes and care trajectories.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The incidence and prevalence of eating disorders (ED) is low in general practice (GP) settings. Studies in secondary care suggest that the general practitioner has an important role to play in the early detection of patients with EDs. The aim of this study was to describe the effect (clinical outcomes and care trajectory) of screening for EDs among patients in general practice settings.
  
  
  METHODS
  A systematic review was conducted on Medline, PsycINFO, CINAHL, Embase and WOS. The studies included were to have been carried out in a primary care setting, with screening explicitly performed in GP practices and follow-up information.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Ten studies met the inclusion criteria. For all ED patients, there was an increase in the frequency of consultations in GP setting, referrals to psychiatric resources and drug prescriptions such as antidepressants, following screening procedures. Clinical outcomes remained unclear and heterogeneous. One study focused on the course and outcome of ED patients identified by screening in the GP setting and reported recovery for anorexia nervosa (AN) and BN in more than half of the cases, after 4.8 years of mean follow-up. In this study, early age at detection predicted better recovery.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Most of the literature on the role of the GP in screening for and managing EDs consists of opinion papers and original studies designed in a secondary care perspective. The impact of systematically screening for EDs in a primary care setting is not clarified and requires further investigation in collaborative cohort studies with a patient-centered approach, and outcomes focused on symptoms.
authors.affiliation: Université Paris-Saclay, Univ. Paris-Sud, UVSQ, CESP, INSERM U1178, Villejuif, France. jscadwallader@yahoo.fr.|Department of General Practice, Faculty of Medicine Pierre and Marie Curie, Sorbonne Universités, UPMC Univ Paris 06, Paris, France. jscadwallader@yahoo.fr.
authors.forename: Jean Sébastien
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Cadwallader
authors.affiliation: Université Paris-Saclay, Univ. Paris-Sud, UVSQ, CESP, INSERM U1178, Villejuif, France.|Department of Psychiatry, Institut Mutualiste Montsouris, Paris, France.
authors.forename: Nathalie
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Godart
authors.affiliation: Department of General Practice, Faculty of Medicine Pierre and Marie Curie, Sorbonne Universités, UPMC Univ Paris 06, Paris, France.
authors.forename: Julie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Chastang
authors.affiliation: Université Paris-Saclay, Univ. Paris-Sud, UVSQ, CESP, INSERM U1178, Villejuif, France.
authors.forename: Bruno
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Falissard
authors.affiliation: Université Paris-Saclay, Univ. Paris-Sud, UVSQ, CESP, INSERM U1178, Villejuif, France.
authors.forename: Caroline
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Huas
mesh_terms: D001068:Feeding and Eating Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology; D058006:General Practice; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D015995:Prevalence; D011320:Primary Health Care
keywords: Effect; Follow-up; Primary care; Screening