Treatment of compulsive exercise in anorexia nervosa

Efficacy of a specialized group intervention for compulsive exercise in inpatients with anorexia nervosa: a randomized controlled trial

Status

Active, not recruiting

Phases

Unknown

Study type

Interventional

Source

ISRCTN

Registry ID

ISRCTN14208852

Enrollment

168

Registered

2017-07-14

Start date

2013-10-01

Completion date

Unknown

Last updated

2023-09-11

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Anorexia nervosa Mental and Behavioural Disorders Anorexia nervosa

Interventions

Randomisation was conducted using randomizer.org (Urbaniak & Plous, 2013). Participants will be randomized to one of two treatment arms: 1. Inpatient routine treatment (treatment as usual=TAU): The s

baseline), before the start of HEB (T1), after the end of HEB (T2), at discharge (T3) and at 6-months after discharge (T4

follow-up).

Eligibility

Sex/Gender

Female

Inclusion criteria

Inclusion criteria: 1. Female gender 2. DSM-IV diagnosis of AN (DSM-IV 307.1) or atypical AN /EDNOS (DSM-IV 307.50) 3. Presence of compulsive exercise, which was defined based on modified DSM-IV criteria for OCD 3. Age: 14-45 years

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion criteria: 1. Body-mass-index (BMI) < 13 kg/m² at the beginning of the Intervention 2. Drug, alcohol or other substance abuse 3. Presence of additional severe psychiatric or neurological disease and suicidality 4. Concurrent treatment for OCD 5. Severe somatic complications, that would prohibit attending a 100 minute group session and/or light to moderate supervised exercise 6. Marked cognitive impairment due to underweight

Design outcomes

Primary

Measure	Time frame
Compulsive exercise behavior, measured using the Commitment to Exercise Scale (CES) at admission (T0; baseline), before the start of HEB (T1), after the end of HEB (T2), at discharge (T3) and at 6-months after discharge (T4; follow-up)	—

Secondary

Measure	Time frame
1. Compulsive exercise behavior, measured using the Compulsive Exercise Test 2. Eating disorder psychopathology, measured using the Eating Disorder Inventory-2 and Eating Disorder Examination-Questionnaire 3. General psychopathology, measured using the Beck Depression Inventory-II; Brief Severity Index-18; Obsessive Compulsive Inventory-Revised 4. Emotion regulation skills, measured using the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Skills Questionnaire 5. BMI, measured by trained and masked nursing staff as part of routine treatment All outcomes measured after admission (T0; baseline), before the start of HEB (T1), after the end of HEB (T2), before discharge (T3) and at 6-months after discharge (T4; follow-up)	—

Measure

Time frame

1. Compulsive exercise behavior, measured using the Compulsive Exercise Test 2. Eating disorder psychopathology, measured using the Eating Disorder Inventory-2 and Eating Disorder Examination-Questionnaire 3. General psychopathology, measured using the Beck Depression Inventory-II; Brief Severity Index-18; Obsessive Compulsive Inventory-Revised 4. Emotion regulation skills, measured using the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Skills Questionnaire 5. BMI, measured by trained and masked nursing staff as part of routine treatment All outcomes measured after admission (T0; baseline), before the start of HEB (T1), after the end of HEB (T2), before discharge (T3) and at 6-months after discharge (T4; follow-up)

—

Countries

Germany

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ISRCTN (via WHO ICTRP) · Data processed: Feb 4, 2026