Short-term outcome of anorexia nervosa in adolescents after inpatient treatment: a prospective study

Harriet Salbach-Andrae (1) , Nora Schneider (1) , Katja Seifert (1) , Ernst Pfeiffer (1) , Klaus Lenz (1) , Ulrike Lehmkuhl (1) , Alexander Korte (1)

1 Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy

The current study describes the short-term outcome of adolescent inpatient population suffering from anorexia nervosa (AN) and analyzes the clinical predictors of poor outcome in these patients. Fifty-seven female AN patients (mean = 15.8, SD = 1.3) admitted for inpatient treatment to a specialized eating disorder unit at a university medical center were reassessed 1 year after being discharged. Assessments were made at the beginning and at the end of the inpatient treatment as well as at the 1-year follow-up. Self-rating data and expert-rating interview data were obtained. Adequate data for 55 (96.5%) cases allowed for the assignment of an outcome category. A total of 28.1% of the patients' cases showed a good outcome, meaning the patients fully recovered, and 8.8% had an intermediate outcome, and 59.6% of the patients' cases had a poor outcome. Significant predictors of poor outcome included the patient's BMI at the beginning of the treatment as well as psychiatric comorbidity, and purging behavior. Adolescent AN is a severe disorder with a poor outcome in a substantial amount of adolescents.

Mots clés: Anorexia nervosa; Adolescents; Inpatient treatment; Outcome

Harriet Salbach-Andrae, Nora Schneider, Katja Seifert, Ernst Pfeiffer, Klaus Lenz, et al.. Short-term outcome of anorexia nervosa in adolescents after inpatient treatment: a prospective study. European Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 2009, 18 (11), pp.701-704. ⟨10.1007/s00787-009-0024-9⟩. ⟨hal-00535149⟩