P4945 - Prevalence of Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder Among Patients With Newly Diagnosed Celiac Disease

Artemis Trikola, MPH, MSc¹, Helen Beka, ², Ioannis Lappas, MSc¹, Georgia Emmanouilidou, MSc¹, Maria Ellina, ¹, Lampros Chrisaugis, ¹, Georgios Kranidiotis, ¹, Gerassimos Stefanidis, PhD¹, Nikos Viazis, PhD^3
1Athens Naval and Veterans Hospital, Athens, Attiki, Greece; ²Evangelismos General Hospital, Athens, Attiki, Greece; ³Evangelismos General Hospital, Ypsilantou, Attiki, Greece

Introduction: Patients with recently diagnosed celiac disease, usually present with upper gastrointestinal manifestations, including bloating, abdominal pain and chronic diarrhea or constipation, thus adopting several restrictive tendencies, apart from the standard-of -care gluten-free diet (GFD). Among adults with recently diagnosed celiac disease (CD), we aimed to examine the prevalence of avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder (ARFID).

Case Description/Methods: In a prospectively maintained cohort of adult patients with a recent diagnosis of celiac disease, we evaluated eating habits of patients with a recent diagnosis of CD who were under GFD through the Eating Attitudes Test (EAT-26) and the prevalence of ARFID through nine item avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder screen (NIAS), containing three subscales (picky eating, appetite, fear).

Discussion: A total of 28 patients were enrolled [mean age 37.07 years old, 22 females (78.6%)], with a mean body mass index (BMI) of 23.7kg/m² . A self-reported suspected food intake disorder had been reported by 35.7% of patients, while 21.4% were referred to a specialized mental care professional and 7.1% had been diagnosed by a non-specific food disorder in the past 6 months. Physical activity was limited or absent in 78.6% of enrolled patients.

Both EAT-26 and NIAS questionnaires displayed acceptable values on reliability analysis (Cronbach's alpha score 0.618 and 0.658 respectively). A total of 14% (4 out of 28 patients,100% females) met criteria for ARFID, with a mean score of 42 points on the total scale of NIAS. Patients with ARFID reported that other people think that they are too thin (p=0.004) and felt external pressure from others to eat (p< 0.001).

Females reported to push significantly themselves to eat regularly or large amounts of food on an daily basis (p=0.04),significantly consumed more time and thought to food (p< 0.001), enjoyed trying new rich foods (p=0.02) and suffered from eating binges (p=0.003) compared to males. However, there were no differences between BMI, the self-reported suspected food disorder and the diagnosed mental health conditions.

In a small sample of patients with recently diagnosed CD, ARFID may present up to 15% and contribute to persistent symptomatology and food restrictive attitude, despite being on GFD. Although females were found to be more susceptible to ARFID, by reporting more binge eating and external factors exerting pressure, no significant differences were found on age, gender, BMI in our cohort.


Disclosures:


Artemis Trikola, MPH, MSc¹, Helen Beka, ², Ioannis Lappas, MSc¹, Georgia Emmanouilidou, MSc¹, Maria Ellina, ¹, Lampros Chrisaugis, ¹, Georgios Kranidiotis, ¹, Gerassimos Stefanidis, PhD¹, Nikos Viazis, PhD³. P4945 - Prevalence of Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder Among Patients With Newly Diagnosed Celiac Disease, ACG 2024 Annual Scientific Meeting Abstracts. Philadelphia, PA: American College of Gastroenterology.