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Barriers to identifying eating disorders in pregnancy and in the postnatal period: a qualitative approach

Overview of attention for article published in BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth, May 2018
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  • In the top 5% of all research outputs scored by Altmetric
  • High Attention Score compared to outputs of the same age (94th percentile)
  • High Attention Score compared to outputs of the same age and source (97th percentile)

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4 news outlets
blogs
1 blog
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24 X users
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1 Facebook page

Citations

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37 Dimensions

Readers on

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298 Mendeley
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Title
Barriers to identifying eating disorders in pregnancy and in the postnatal period: a qualitative approach
Published in
BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth, May 2018
DOI 10.1186/s12884-018-1745-x
Pubmed ID
Authors

Amanda Bye, Jill Shawe, Debra Bick, Abigail Easter, Megan Kash-Macdonald, Nadia Micali

Abstract

Eating Disorders (ED) are mental health disorders that typically effect women of childbearing age and are associated with adverse maternal and infant outcomes. UK healthcare guidance recommends routine enquiry for current and past mental illness in antenatal and postnatal care for all women, and that pregnant women with a known ED are offered enhanced monitoring and support. Midwives and health visitors are ideally placed to identify and support women with ED as they are often the primary point of contact during the antenatal and postnatal periods. However, research on the barriers to identifying ED in the perinatal period is limited. This study aimed to understand the barriers to disclosure and identification of ED in pregnancy and postnatally as perceived by women with past or current ED, and midwives and health visitors working in the UK National Health Service. Two studies were undertaken: mixed-measures survey of pregnant and postnatal women with current or past ED; focus groups with student and qualified midwives and health visitors. Five themes emerged on the barriers to disclosure in pregnancy as perceived by women: stigma, lack of opportunity, preference for self-management, current ED symptomatology and illness awareness. Four themes were identified on the barriers to identification of ED in pregnancy and in the postnatal period as perceived by health professionals: system constraints, recognition of role, personal attitudes, and stigma and taboo. Several barriers to the identification of ED during and after pregnancy were described, the main factors were stigma and poor professional training. Perinatal mental health is becoming increasingly prioritised within national policy initiatives; however, ED continue to be neglected and increased awareness is needed. Similarly, clinical guidance aimed at responding to the rising prevalence of obesity focus on changing nutrition but not on assessing for the presence of ED behaviours that might be affecting nutrition. Improving education and training for health professionals may contribute to reducing stigma and increase confidence in identifying ED. The barriers identified in this research need to be addressed if recognition and response to women with ED during the perinatal period is to improve.

X Demographics

X Demographics

The data shown below were collected from the profiles of 24 X users who shared this research output. Click here to find out more about how the information was compiled.
Mendeley readers

Mendeley readers

The data shown below were compiled from readership statistics for 298 Mendeley readers of this research output. Click here to see the associated Mendeley record.

Geographical breakdown

Country Count As %
Unknown 298 100%

Demographic breakdown

Readers by professional status Count As %
Student > Master 35 12%
Student > Bachelor 32 11%
Student > Ph. D. Student 30 10%
Researcher 20 7%
Student > Postgraduate 11 4%
Other 40 13%
Unknown 130 44%
Readers by discipline Count As %
Nursing and Health Professions 52 17%
Medicine and Dentistry 38 13%
Psychology 31 10%
Social Sciences 11 4%
Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutical Science 5 2%
Other 24 8%
Unknown 137 46%
Attention Score in Context

Attention Score in Context

This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 54. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 02 May 2019.
All research outputs
#725,293
of 24,172,513 outputs
Outputs from BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth
#122
of 4,501 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#16,921
of 331,274 outputs
Outputs of similar age from BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth
#5
of 155 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 24,172,513 research outputs across all sources so far. Compared to these this one has done particularly well and is in the 97th percentile: it's in the top 5% of all research outputs ever tracked by Altmetric.
So far Altmetric has tracked 4,501 research outputs from this source. They typically receive more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 9.0. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 97% of its peers.
Older research outputs will score higher simply because they've had more time to accumulate mentions. To account for age we can compare this Altmetric Attention Score to the 331,274 tracked outputs that were published within six weeks on either side of this one in any source. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 94% of its contemporaries.
We're also able to compare this research output to 155 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 97% of its contemporaries.