Prediction of low body weight at long-term follow-up in acute anorexia nervosa by low body weight at referral
- 1 April 1997
- journal article
- Published by American Psychiatric Association Publishing in American Journal of Psychiatry
- Vol. 154 (4) , 566-569
- https://doi.org/10.1176/ajp.154.4.566
Abstract
The authors investigated the hypothesis that in acute anorexia nervosa a low body weight predicts a poor weight prognosis for the future. 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. 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. 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.Keywords
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