Cited by 283Eating Disorders and BehaviorsNutrition, Health and Food BehaviorAnxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive Processes

Meta-analysis of the efficacy of psychological and medical treatments for binge-eating disorder

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Hilbert, Anja, Petroff, David, Herpertz, Stephan, Pietrowsky, Reinhard, Tuschen-Caffier, Brunna, Vocks, Silja, Schmidt, Ricarda·2019·Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To provide a comprehensive meta-analysis on the efficacy of psychological and medical treatments for binge-eating disorder (BED), including those targeting weight loss. METHOD: Through a systematic search before March 2018, 81 published and unpublished randomized-controlled trials (RCTs), totaling 7,515 individuals with BED (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-Fourth Edition [DSM-IV] and Fifth Edition [DSM-5]), were retrieved and analyzed using random-effect modeling. RESULTS: In RCTs with inactive control groups, psychotherapy, mostly consisting of cognitive-behavioral therapy, showed large-size effects for the reduction of binge-eating episodes and abstinence from binge eating, followed by structured self-help treatment with medium-to-large effects when compared with wait-list. Pharmacotherapy and pharmacological weight loss treatment mostly outperformed pill placebo conditions with small effects on binge-eating outcome. These results were confirmed for the most common treatments of cognitive-behavioral therapy, self-help treatment based on cognitive-behavioral therapy, and lisdexamfetamine. In RCTs with active control groups, there was limited evidence for the superiority of one treatment category or treatment. In a few studies, psychotherapy outperformed behavioral weight loss treatment in short- and long-term binge-eating outcome and led to lower longer-term abstinence than self-help treatment, while combined treatment revealed no additive effect on binge-eating outcome over time. Overall study quality was heterogeneous and the quality of evidence for binge-eating outcome was generally very low. CONCLUSIONS: This comprehensive meta-analysis demonstrated the efficacy of psychotherapy, structured self-help treatment, and pharmacotherapy for patients with BED. More high quality research on treatments for BED is warranted, with a focus on long-term maintenance of therapeutic gains, comparative efficacy, mechanisms through which treatments work, and complex models of care. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).

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  • Abstinence rates in the current study (29.9%) were somewhat lower than those reported in various RCTs for BED (31%-61%).

    “Abstinence rates were somewhat lower in the current study (29.9%) compared to various RCTs for BED: guided selfhelp CBT-E (31% based on self-report, and 48% based on interviewdata) (Melisse, Berg, et al., 2023a), self-help CBT-ED (36% -46% based on interview-data) (de Zwaan et al., 2017; Hilbert et al., 2019), or inperson CBT-ED (36% -61% based on interview-data) (de Zwaan et al., 2017; Hilbert et”

    From Effectiveness of web-based guided self-help cognitive behavioral therapy-enhanced for binge-eating disorder: An implementation study (2024) · cites this paper as Hilbert et al., 2019

    In ‘Pre-treatment to Post-treatment Change versus Inactive Control’ (page unavailable), the meta-analysis reports post-treatment binge-eating abstinence of 46% for self-help treatment and 53% for psychotherapy in RCTs. These figures support the comparison with the current study’s 29.9%, but the paper does not report 36% or 61% as abstinence rates; 61% is the upper bound of the psychotherapy estimate’s 95% confidence interval. (LLM, conf=0.86)

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  • There were no significant differences in BMI across timepoints.

    “Consistent with convergent findings across CBT-based programs for BED (4), there was no significant differences in BMI across timepoints”

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Authors
Hilbert, A., Petroff, D., Herpertz, S., Pietrowsky, R., Tuschen-Caffier, B., Vocks, S., & Schmidt, R.
Affiliations
European Medicines Agency (NL)
Corresponding author
Hilbert, Anja
Venue
Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology
Published
2019-01
Volume
87
Issue
1
Pages
91-105
ISSN
  • 0022-006X (ISSN-L)
  • 1939-2117
OpenAlex
W2905971773
Cited by
283
References
127
Citations by year
2026: 22 · 2025: 38 · 2024: 41 · 2023: 49 · 2022: 47 · 2021: 44 · 2020: 29 · 2019: 11 · 2018: 1 · 2013: 1
FWCI
3.60
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
other-oa
Locations
  • Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Qucosa (Saxon State and University Library Dresden) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Eating Disorders and Behaviors
  • Health Sciences › Nursing › Nutrition and Dietetics › Nutrition, Health and Food Behavior
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Anxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive Processes
Keywords
binge eating disorder, cognitive behavioral therapy, self-help treatment, pharmacotherapy, lisdexamfetamine, weight loss treatment, treatment efficacy, combined psychotherapy and pharmacotherapy
MeSH terms
Adult, Appetite Depressants, Female, Follow-Up Studies, Humans, Male, Obesity, Psychotherapy, Self Care, Self-Help Groups, Weight Loss, Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic, Treatment Outcome, Bariatric Surgery, Binge-Eating Disorder

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