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A follow-up study on anorexia nervosa: clinical features and diagnostic outcome

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 April 2020

P Santonastaso
Affiliation:
Istituto di Clinica Psichiatrica, Universita di Padova, Via Gustiniani 2, 351280, Padua, Italy
M Pantano
Affiliation:
Istituto di Clinica Psichiatrica, Universita di Padova, Via Gustiniani 2, 351280, Padua, Italy
L Panarotto
Affiliation:
Istituto di Clinica Psichiatrica, Universita di Padova, Via Gustiniani 2, 351280, Padua, Italy
A Silvestri
Affiliation:
Istituto di Clinica Psichiatrica, Universita di Padova, Via Gustiniani 2, 351280, Padua, Italy
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Summary

Thirty-one patients, 30 girls and 1 boy, who had suffered from anorexia nervosa, were re-evaluated at a minimum of 4 years (mean 7.6 years) after onset. Follow-up information was based on a semi-structured interview and 2 self-evaluation questionnaires, EAT-26 (1979) and HSCL-90 (1976). As well as using the Garfinkel and Garner criteria (1977) for assessing outcome, 2 psychiatrists independently evaluated the psychiatric state using DSM III criteria. The results demonstrated that 54.8% of the sample had a positive and 45% (including 3 deaths) a poor outcome. Of the 25 subjects interviewed, 20% presented chronic anorexia. Seventy-two percent, on the other hand, showed an evolution in clinical diagnosis, meeting the criteria for a mental disorder other than anorexia nervosa: Affective Disorders (40%), Somatoform Disorder (16%), Anxiety Disorder (12%), and Bulimia (8%). Two variables were significant, in terms of poor long-term prognosis: a larger number of hospitalizations for anorexia and an unsatisfactory educational and/or vocational adjustment at presentation.

Type
Original article
Copyright
Copyright © Elsevier, Paris 1991

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