A transcultural outcome study of adolescent eating disorders

Authors: Steinhausen, H‐C.¹; Boyadjieva, S.²; Grigoroiu‐Serbanescu, M.³; Seidel, R.¹; Winkler Metzke, C.¹

Source: Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, Volume 101, Number 1, January 2000 , pp. 60-66(7)

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Abstract:

Objective: The aim of the study was to assess the treatment and outcome of adolescent eating disorders in an international study including Western and Eastern European clinical and research centres. Method: A total of 138 patients with adolescent onset of an eating disorder (primarily anorexia nervosa) were followed up after a mean interval of 5 years after first admission. Results: On average, the patients had spent 25% of the total follow‐up period in either in‐patient or out‐patient treatment. Half of them required a second hospitalization and a quarter required a third hospitalization for the eating disorder. At follow‐up, 68% of the total sample did not have an eating disorder. The prediction of outcome revealed different patterns of risk variables depending on the type of criterion. Conclusion: The outcome of adolescent eating disorders is relatively similar across cultures, and better than in patients with later onset of the disorder.

Keywords: eating disorder; adolescence; Outcome

Document Type: Original article

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1034/j.1600-0447.2000.101001060.x

Affiliations: 1: Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, University of Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland 2: Psychiatric Clinic, University of Sofia, Bulgaria and 3: Al Obregia Psychiatric Hospital `Dr G. Marinescu', Bucharest, Romania

Publication date: 2000-01-01