Attitudes toward eating disorders among primary care physicians

Eating disorders are severe conditions associated with high morbidity, mortality and socioeconomic burden. Primary care physicians are central in their early detection and treatment, but clinicians have been found to have limited knowledge and even negative attitudes toward eating disorder patients. Most studies have focused on anorexia nervosa (AN) and bulimia nervosa (BN), while less is known about attitudes toward binge eating disorder (BED) and avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder (ARFID).

To examine primary care physicians' attitudes toward eating disorders and assess whether education and clinical experience predict comfort in management and willingness to work with affected patients.

A cross-sectional survey was conducted among primary care physicians (n = 191) attending a mandatory seminar. Attitudes toward AN, BN, BED and ARFID were assessed using Likert-type items based on prior research. Ordinal logistic regression analyses examined associations between education, experience and selected attitudes.

Overall attitudes were similar across diagnoses. Only 14-21% reported enjoying working with eating disorder patients. Education was consistently associated with greater comfort in management and enjoyment of working with these patients, whereas clinical experience was more strongly associated with comfort in management than with enjoyment. Familiarity with ARFID was low, reflected in reduced response rate (14.6%).

Attitudes toward eating disorders were broadly similar across diagnoses, but positive attitudes toward working with affected patients were uncommon. Education was consistently associated with more favorable attitudes and greater confidence in management, highlighting the potential value of continuing professional education and support for eating disorder care in primary care.