RESUMO
PURPOSE: The aims of this study were to analyze the prevalence and course of disordered eating behavior (DEB) in adolescents with intensively treated type I diabetes, describe differences in age-specific DEB symptoms, and identify predictors of current DEB. METHODS: Data were taken from 332/218 11- to 27-year-old participants (55.7% girls/women, mean age [SD] 17.8 [3.4] years, mean diabetes duration 14.9 [3.0] years) of two/three surveys of a Germany-wide longitudinal study on early-onset and long duration diabetes, respectively. A diabetes-adapted version of the SCOFF questionnaire was used to assess DEB. Both screening-based overall and age- and sex-specific prevalence of DEB and its symptoms were determined. To estimate transition probabilities between DEB states, first-order Markov transition models were implemented adjusting for previous sociodemographic, socioeconomic, and diabetes-specific covariates. RESULTS: The overall screening-based DEB prevalence among all 1,318 observations was 10.8% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 9.2%, 12.6%) with age-specific differences in symptom prevalence. Transition probabilities for developing/persistent DEB were twofold higher among female than male participants (risk ratio [RR] 2.3 [1.4, 3.9]/2.1 [1.3, 3.4]). In multiple adjusted regression, previous DEB (odds ratio [OR] 2.8 [95% CI 1.4, 5.6]), follow-up time (ORper 1-year increase 3.4 [1.4, 8.0]), and sex (ORgirls/women 2.1 [1.1, 3.9]) were the most important predictors of current DEB with further weaker associations for previous age and HbA1c. CONCLUSIONS: Our results contribute to better understanding the course of DEB in patients with early-onset diabetes and emphasize the relevance of regular DEB screenings including the age group of young adults.