Question: For patients with eating disorders, how effective are psychoeducation groups, compared with any other intervention, for improving patient outcomes?

Answer:

Two small, poor quality trials provided evidence for this question. There was some evidence that a computer-based health education package increased both knowledge and positive attitudes in patients with anorexia, bulimia or both; and that adding CBT to group psycho-education could reduce binging and purging episodes in patients with bulimia. However, neither trial directly compared group psycho-education with an appropriate comparator. They were also both small (54 and 58 patients) with some limitations in their reporting therefore further research using well-designed RCTs is warranted. One trial had an initial non-randomised component which found that bulimic patients who were not in remission from binging and purging after the group psycho-education were significantly more depressed and symptomatic and recommended that further research is needed into treatment options for these patients.

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