Health professionals' familiarity and experience with providing clinical care for pediatric avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder

Objective The current study explored the experience and familiarity of pediatric health professionals with avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder (ARFID), and assessed the application of diagnostic criteria in a series of clinical vignettes. Method Pediatric health professionals were invited to complete an online survey. Data from 93 health professionals from medical and allied health roles who completed the survey were analyzed. Results Respondents providing care for pediatric feeding/eating disorders were more likely to report familiarity with ARFID than those not typically providing care for feeding/eating disorders. Clinicians who had provided care for pediatric ARFID reported more confidence in clinical management of ARFID than did those who had not yet provided care for ARFID, though there were overall relatively low levels of confidence in providing care for ARFID. Respondents to the clinical vignettes were more likely to confer a diagnosis of ARFID when there were symptoms of both psychosocial impairment and weight loss than when there was psychosocial impairment alone. Discussion The results suggest variability in current application of diagnostic criteria for ARFID, low confidence in clinical management of ARFID, and ambiguity in clinicians' judgments regarding whether psychosocial impairment is sufficient to meet a diagnosis of ARFID.