The Binge Eating Genetics Initiative (BEGIN) is an observational study where individuals with binge-eating disorder (BED) or bulimia nervosa (BN) complete assessments about eating disorder history, current disordered eating behavior, and mood. Participants also provide active data on binge eating, purging, nutrition, and cognitions using Recovery Record on the Apple Watch. Passive sensor data are collected via native applications over a 30-day period in 1000 individuals with BED or BN. Investigators will combine longitudinal passive (Apple Watch) and active (Recovery Record) data to predict when patients are at high risk of binge eating or purging. Results will enable the deployment of real-time, in-the-moment, personalized signaling of impending binge or purge episodes that will interrupt automatic behaviors and empower patients to exert control over binge eating and purging by engaging in therapeutic alternatives.
The parent study, BEGIN, has full ethical approval. From within Recovery Record, individuals are directed to a link to the BEGIN study. From outside Recovery Record, interested individuals complete a brief screen. If they are potentially eligible, they are directed to Recovery Record. Informed consent for phenotyping is obtained digitally via the Recovery Record app. After consent, interested participants complete a validated eating disorders diagnostic questionnaire based on Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5) criteria adapted from the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-5 (ED100K). This questionnaire was developed for use in large genetic studies as a means to recruit large samples efficiently with high diagnostic accuracy. Those who screen case positive are offered the opportunity to participate in the full study (with a second informed consent also delivered from within Recovery Record). Eligible participants are mailed a package containing a description of the study, saliva collection kit, stool collection kit, and an Apple Watch. Participants complete the Eating Disorder Examination Questionnaire (EDE-Q), Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7-item scale (GAD-7), and Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) at enrollment, midpoint, and endpoint. Participants are asked to log mood and food in the Recovery Record app on their Apple Watch for 30 days, the duration of the study. During those 30-days, participants are also asked to submit their saliva and stool samples. Saliva kits are returned directly to Rutgers University Cell and DNA Repository (RUCDR). The questionnaire, active, and passive data will all be used to characterize patterns of when and where individuals are more/less likely to binge and/or purge in their daily lives. The investigators will identify low-risk and high-risk passive data patterns that will facilitate the prediction of transitions to high risk states signaling impending binge or purge episodes.
Study Type
OBSERVATIONAL
Enrollment
1,166
Observational data will be obtained through participants entering data on disordered eating episodes, mood, and food in Recovery Record, an app to assist people in managing their eating disorder during the 30 days of the trial. In addition, participants wear an Apple Watch from which passive data (e.g., heart rate, activity, and geolocation) are collected.
University of North Carolina
Chapel Hill, Virginia, United States
Prediction models for the occurrence of disordered eating episodes in individuals with BN/BED using passive sensor data
Dynamic systems approach will use passive and active data to illustrate the dynamics that lead up to a binge or purge event. Using passive data up to two hours prior to a binge or purge event as recorded within the Recovery Record app by the participant (but not within an hour of a previous event), changes in heart rate and actigraphy will be modeled as a function of current heart rate and actigraphy. Time leading up to the binge or purge event, type of event (binge or purge), and an interaction with the type of event will be included as moderators of the relationship of heart and steps in predicting their changes. As one approaches a binge or purge, this will capture a reduction in pattern stability as the strength of association between current heart rate and steps and changes in these same variables should become weaker as one approaches the binge or purge event. This analysis will be able to identify how early signs of instability are detectable before binge and purge events.
Time frame: all reported disordered eating events during the 30 day observation period
Models of the dynamics in the 2 hours after a disordered eating event occurs
Using dynamical system approaches, changes in heart rate and steps will be modeled as a function of current levels in heart rate and steps. Time since the binge/purge, type of event, and BN/BED diagnosis (along with interactions between them) will be used as moderators of the relationships of heart rate and actigraphy in predicting the changes.
Time frame: all reported disordered eating events during the 30 day observation period
Prediction models with contextual factors of disordered eating episodes
Contextual factors such as positive and negative mood, time of day, prior same day binge eating and/or purging, location, and use of coping skills will be used to inform the models from OUTCOME 1 to see how these factors moderate likelihood of disordered eating episodes. Current mood is assessed within Recovery Record. When participants log a meal, or a binge or purge, they are asked "Which feelings are you experiencing?" There are 28 response options. These include, but are not limited to Happy, Anxious, Lonely, Guilt, Angry, Depressed. Participants can select as many as they like. For each feeling they endorse, they can indicate the level to which they are experiencing these feeling on a 5-point Likert scale, ranging from options such as 'A little' to 'Extreme', where higher values indicate greater intensity of the feeling endorsed.
Time frame: all reported disordered eating events during the 30 day observation period
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