Prediction of low body weight at long-term follow-up in acute anorexia nervosa by low body weight at referral

• Published in: The American journal of psychiatry 1997-04, Vol.154 (4), p.566-569
• Main Authors: HEBEBRAND, J, HIMMELMANN, G. W, HERZOG, W, HERPERTZ-DAHLMANN, B. M, STEINHAUSEN, H.-C, AMSTEIN, M, SEIDEL, R, DETER, H.-C, REMSCHMIDT, H, SCHÄFER, H
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Acute Disease; Adolescent; Adolescent girls; Adult; Adult and adolescent clinical studies; Age Factors; Age of Onset; Anorexia; Anorexia nervosa; Anorexia Nervosa - diagnosis; Anorexia Nervosa - mortality; Biological and medical sciences; Body Mass Index; Body Weight; Eating behavior disorders; Eating disorders; Emaciation - mortality; Female; Follow-Up Studies; Followup studies; Hospitalization; Humans; Male; Medical sciences; Middle Aged; Outcomes; Predictors; Probability; Prognosis; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychopathology. Psychiatry; Referral and Consultation; Regression Analysis; Risk Factors; Weight
• ISSN: 0002-953X; 1535-7228
• DOI: 10.1176/ajp.154.4.566

OBJECTIVE: The authors investigated the hypothesis that in acute anorexia nervosa a low body weight predicts a poor weight prognosis for the future. METHOD: The body mass indexes at referral of 272 female patients were examined in relation to the body mass indexes of these patients after a mean follow-up of 9.5 years. RESULTS: The overall correlation between body mass indexes at referral and at follow-up was r = 0.33. Despite this low correlation, the 100 patients with body mass indexes less than 13 kg/m2 at referral had low weights at long-term follow-up. Eleven of the 12 deceased patients were among these 100 patients, as were 24 of the 46 surviving patients whose body mass indexes were 17.5 kg/m2 or less at follow-up. CONCLUSIONS: For patients with anorexia nervosa, a body mass index less than 13 kg/m2 at referral indicates a substantial risk for chronic anorexia nervosa and death related to emaciation.