Categories
Change Password!
Reset Password!
Analysis of 20 years of FDA FAERS data identifies nine commonly used medications as potential precipitating factors for eating disorders, particularly among middle-aged and older adults.
A large-scale pharmacovigilance study using two decades of U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) safety data has identified several commonly used medications that may precipitate eating disorders—a risk that has historically been underrecognized compared with psychosocial triggers.
While psychological and social factors are well-established contributors to eating disorders, the role of medications as potential precipitating factors has received far less attention. This study sought to systematically identify drugs linked with eating disorders by analyzing reports from the FDA Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS).
Liyun Zheng and other researchers extracted FAERS reports related to potential eating disorders submitted between January 2004 and December 2024. Disproportionate reporting signals were evaluated via reporting odds ratios (RORs), with Fisher’s exact test applied for statistical significance and Bonferroni correction used to adjust for multiple comparisons.
Drugs meeting strict criteria—a lower bound of the 95% confidence interval for ROR greater than 1, an adjusted p-value below 0.01, and more than 100 reports—were further examined via least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) regression. Multivariable logistic regression, adjusted for age, sex, and reporter type, was then used to identify medications most strongly related to eating disorder reports.
Out of 20,145 eating disorder–related FAERS reports, 62.7% involved female patients, and the median age was 59 years (interquartile range: 42–71), highlighting a predominance among middle-aged and older adults. The signal detection analysis identified 30 drugs with statistically significant positive associations. After LASSO selection and adjusted logistic regression, 9 medications emerged as potential precipitating factors for eating disorders:
These drugs span multiple therapeutic areas, including oncology, neurology, psychiatry, and gastroenterology, many of which are known to influence appetite, weight regulation, or central nervous system function. The findings underscore the importance of considering medication effects alongside psychosocial risk factors when evaluating eating disorder risk.
Clinicians are advised to closely monitor patients receiving drugs that impact appetite, weight, or have abuse potential, especially those with a history of eating disorders or other vulnerability factors. Early recognition and proactive management may help reduce medication-related harm and boost patient safety.
Eating Behaviors
Medications as precipitating factors for potential eating disorders: A disproportionality analysis using FDA adverse event reports
Liyun Zheng et al.
Comments (0)