Attenuated dietary motivation in Wilson’s disease correlates with clinical severity

BACKGROUND & AIMS: Wilson's disease (WD) necessitates lifelong copper-chelation therapy and a restrictive low-copper diet. While the psychological impact of dietary restriction is well-documented in obesity and diabetes, the distinctive eating psychology of WD patients remains unexplored. We aimed to characterize the eating psychology of WD patients and its association with disease severity. METHODS: In a cross-sectional study, 50 WD inpatients and 110 HCs were assessed using the Food Cravings Questionnaire-Trait (FCQ-T) and the Dutch Eating Behavior Questionnaire (DEBQ). WD patients were stratified by liver function, neurological symptoms, and platelet-to-white blood cell ratio (PWR), and prevalent ATP7B genotype (R778L). Group comparisons used non-parametric tests. RESULTS: Compared to HCs, WD patients showed significantly lower scores on all DEBQ dimensions and key FCQ-T facets (all p