Development and pilot trial of online Guided Self-Help Cognitive Behavioral Therapy program for Bulimia Nervosa and Binge Eating Disorder in Japanese patients

Abstract Objective: The purpose of this study was to develop an internet-based Guided Self-Help CBT (iGSH-CBT) for Bulimia Nervosa (BN) / Binge Eating Disorder (BED) for Japanese patients and to test its feasibility with a single-arm study. After baseline assessment, patients underwent a 16-week iGSH-CBT program, our Japanese adaption of the European-based Salut BN program. Evaluations were performed at baseline, after 8 weeks, at the end of the 16-week intervention, and at 2 months after treatment had ended. The primary outcome measure was the change in the weekly frequency of objective binging. Results: Participants were 9 female outpatients with BN (n=5) or BED (n=4), of whom 8 (88.9%) attended the assessment at the end of the 16-week intervention. Percent change of the weekly frequencies of objective binging was -4.40%. Although no significant change was observed in the weekly frequencies of objective bingeing, the abstinence rate from bulimic behaviours of those who completed the assessments was 25.0% at the end of treatment, and the drop-out rate was 11.1%. iGSH-CBT may be an acceptable and possibly even a preferred method of CBT delivery for Japanese patients with BN or BED, and our Japanese adaptation of Salut BN seems feasible.