Sleep and Activity For Eating Disorders

Condition(s) studied

Investigational drug(s) / intervention(s)

Actigraphy: The actigraph is a non-invasive device used to measure sleep-wake rhythms based on the recording of motor activity over a 24-hour period (Acker et al., 2021). Since it is easy to handle due to its physical characteristics, it can be worn for extended periods and therefore allows the collection of data related to activity and rest phases, as well as circadian rhythms. Specifically, the use of this method allows the collection of measures relating both to daytime motor activity (i.e., intensity, duration, and circadian distribution) and to nighttime sleep (i.e., duration, sleep-onset latency, wake period, number of awakenings, efficiency index, sleep and wake times).

Collection of biological parameters: Some medical parameters will be collected, including blood pressure, heart rate, respiratory rate, blood levels of ghrelin, leptin, and orexin, as well as salivary melatonin levels.

Psychological testing: Participants will be asked to complete: a) Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (to measure subjective sleep quality); b) Morningness-Eveningness questionnaire (to measure the chronotype); c) Body Uneasiness Test (to measure body image uneasiness); d) Body Image Task (to measure the implicit perception of body image); e) Eating Disorder Inventory-3, Binge Eating Scale, Yale Food Addiction Scale (to measure the severity of eating symptoms); f) Beck Depression Inventory - II, Hospital anxiety and Depression Scale, Social Appearance Anxiety Scale (to measure depression levels); g) State Urge to be Physically Active Questionnaire (to measure physical activity levels); h) HEXACO list of adjectives (to evaluate personality traits).

Study summary

The SAFE (i.e., Sleep and Activity For Eating disorders) study aims to investigate the characteristics of sleep, daytime activity, and circadian rhythms in a sample of patients with eating disorders-specifically anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, and binge-eating disorder-as well as the relationship between these variables and physiological parameters (i.e., body mass index, hormone levels, blood chemistry parameters) and psychological parameters (i.e., levels of depression and anxiety, body image, eating-disorder symptoms).

Eligibility

Primary outcome measure(s)

• Sleep efficiency (SE) — A week before the rehabilitation recovery (Time 0), at the beginning of the recovery (Time 1), half of the recovery (Time 2 - after 4 weeks from Time 1) and at the end of the recovery (Time 3 - 7 weeks from Time 1).
  Sleep efficiency will be detected through actigraphic measurements and will be compared either within and among groups.
• Chronotype — A week before the rehabilitation recovery (Time 0), at the beginning of the recovery (Time 1), half of the recovery (Time 2 - after 4 weeks from Time 1) and at the end of the recovery (Time 3 - 7 weeks from Time 1).
  Chronotype is the propensity for the individual to engage in certain activities (i.e., sleep) at a particular time during a 24-hour period. It will be detected through a self-report measure, the Morningness-Eveningness Questionnaire, in its reduced version. The scale is composed by 5 items evaluating: a) preferred time for waking up, b) preferred time for going to bed, c) subjective peak alertness during the day, d) ease of getting out of bed, and e) self-assessment of being a "morning" or "evening" type. The total score ranges from 4 to 26, with the following threshold and interpretation: a) 4-10: Evening type, b) 11-18: Intermediate type, c) 19-26: Morning type.
• Orexin Levels — At the beginning of the recovery (Time 1) and at the end of the recovery (Time 3 - 7 weeks from Time 1).
  Levels of orexin detected through blood exams.

Trial sites (1)

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