ABSTRACT
Background: Eating disorder inpatient admissions have risen since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. Even with increased admissions, there is little understanding of this experience for the individual. There has been research into the experiences of individual patients, but no systematic review of the literature. Therefore, the objective of this systematic review was to consider the experiences of inpatient admissions and identify elements which contribute to a more positive experience. Method(s): Searches were performed on the following online databases: PsycINFO, PsycArticles, PsycTherapy MEDLINE, Embase, CINAHL, ASSIA and Scopus. Proquest Open Access Theses and Dissertations data base was searched for unpublished research. Only papers with qualitative data regarding the experiences of individuals who have received inpatient eating disorder treatment were included in the final selection. The papers were selected if written in English and published between January 2000 and June 2021. Independent researchers extracted data regarding the study design, sample demographics and details on their admissions. The results from the final papers were extracted following Thomas and Harden's (2008) method of thematic synthesis. GRADE-COREQual was used to check for quality. Extracted data will be synthesised using the method for thematic synthesis outlined by Thomas and Harden (2008) to collate the available data. Result(s): The thematic synthesis is ongoing at the time of writing but will be finished by the time of the conference. Conclusion(s): As the thematic synthesis is not finished, a conclusion to the study cannot be provided at this point.