FIAT

Family-Based Telemedicine vs. Inpatient Anorexia Nervosa Treatment (FIAT) Study

To improve the care situation for children and adolescents suffering from anorexia nervosa (AN), the Berlin FIAT team at the Clinic for Psychiatry, Psychosomatics and Psychotherapy in Childhood and Adolescence at Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin is conducting the FIAT study. It investigates family-based therapy in comparison to inpatient multimodal therapy (IMT) and aims to evaluate new and promising treatment models.

Family-based therapy, already established as the main treatment for children in England and the USA, has been able to shorten or even prevent hospital stays. The family plays an active role as a central and long-term resource for recovery, allowing patients to recover in their familiar surroundings. If FBT proves to be as effective as IMT, it could become eligible for funding by public health insurers and therefore be made accessible to many affected individuals in Germany.

The FIAT study is a multi-centre, randomised controlled trial (RCT) using a non-inferiority design. It is coordinated by Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, with participation from up to 23 clinics across Germany. With a total of 200 participants aged 8–17 years diagnosed with AN, it will be the first and largest study in continental Europe to investigate FBTSCM. Families whose children are scheduled to receive inpatient treatment are eligible to participate. Participating families will be randomly assigned to either FBTSCM or IMT.

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