# Smart Technology for Anorexia Nervosa Recovery: A Pilot Intervention for the Post-Acute Treatment of Anorexia Nervosa

> **NIH NIH R34** · UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS LAWRENCE · 2022 · $231,651

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT
Anorexia nervosa (AN) has the highest mortality rate of any mental illness, with a typical onset in adolescence.
Although family-based interventions are efficacious for up to 75% of adolescents with AN, approximately 30%
will relapse after recovery. There is a critical need to optimize treatments and prevent post-discharge relapse
following acute treatment to improve outcomes for adolescents with AN. To address this critical need, our team
developed a suite of digital tools that advance the science of assessment, risk prediction, and clinical-decision
support for use in the post-acute treatment window, called “Smart Treatment for Anorexia Recovery (STAR).”
STAR uses cutting-edge assessment technology to shorten test administration and machine-learning to predict
likelihood of recovery. This information is then provided back to the clinician via an easy-to-use clinical-
decision support tool to alert the clinician when user-entered data suggests the patient is not progressing. In
the current application, we propose to expand STAR to test an adaptive mHealth intervention delivered in the
post-discharge window. Our scientific premise is that a transdiagnostic assessment and clinical-decision
support tool delivered within the STAR suite will optimize face-to-face clinical service and the addition of an
adaptive mHealth intervention will improve outpatient treatment response and reduce relapse in adolescents
discharged from intensive treatment for AN. Our previous work supports our scientific premise. Specifically, our
studies provide robust support for the predictive validity and clinical utility of our assessment tool for predicting
ED-related psychiatric impairment and recovery. However, the number of items across our paper-based
assessment tool is 144, which is overly long for routine use. To overcome this challenge, we developed a
mobile phone app that uses computerized adaptive testing to reduce assessment length by up to 50% while
retaining the reliability and validity of the original paper-and-pencil measure. We propose to leverage this
innovation to optimize both face-to-face and mHealth treatment for AN. Our objectives are to: 1) develop the
mHealth intervention (with clinician and stakeholder input) and 2) establish feasibility, acceptability, and
preliminary effect size of our mHealth intervention using both clinician and patient data. To accomplish our
objectives, we will employ a computerized adaptive test coupled with machine learning algorithms, delivered
within our app to signal clinicians when their clients are at-risk for poor outcomes and relapse. Specific aims
include: 1) adapt our existing clinical tool to provide therapist support modules and patient mHealth messages;
2) conduct a preliminary randomized controlled trial (RCT) of our integrated assessment and mHealth
intervention tool
; 3) test preliminary mechanisms that lead to changes in AN symptoms. Given there is a
scarcity of specialty care for AN f...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10657002
- **Project number:** 3R34MH127022-02S1
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS LAWRENCE
- **Principal Investigator:** Kelsie Terese Forbush
- **Activity code:** R34 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $231,651
- **Award type:** 3
- **Project period:** 2021-07-13 → 2024-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10657002

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10657002, Smart Technology for Anorexia Nervosa Recovery: A Pilot Intervention for the Post-Acute Treatment of Anorexia Nervosa (3R34MH127022-02S1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10657002. Licensed CC0.

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