Academic Editor: Zahiruddin Quazi Syed
Background: Since the beginning of COVID-19 pandemic, an increase in
new diagnoses and pediatric hospital admission for anorexia nervosa (AN) or
atypical AN in adolescents have been reported, suggesting an adverse effect of
COVID-19 on youth mental health. We hypothesized possible differences in
prevalence of hospitalization and/or disease severity, related to socio-economic
status and/or ethnicity. Methods: Retrospectively, patients were divided
into two subgroups and compared according to the date of first hospital
admission: “pre SARS-COV2 era” group (n. 45, 8th March 2016–8th March 2020)
and “SARS-COV2 era” group (n. 43, 9th March 2020–8th March 2022).
Results: During the two years of the SARS-COV2 era, we reported an
increase in hospital admission incidence more than doubled respect to the
“pre-SARS-COV2 era”. The “SARS-COV2 era group” showed a more rapid weight
loss (p = 0.005), a minor duration of weight loss from lifetime maximum
to admission (p = 0.019) and needed most frequently treatments with
intravenous fluids (p