How is Body Weight Loss Related to Clinical Characteristics and Treatment Outcome in Patients with Anorexia Nervosa?

  • Sakurai Hirono
    Department of Psychiatry, Kitasato University School of Medicine
  • Yoshimura Yoshitaka
    Department of Psychiatry, Kitasato University School of Medicine
  • Goto Mino
    Department of Psychiatry, Kitasato University School of Medicine
  • Saito Masanori
    Department of Laboratory Center, Keio University Faculty of Medicine
  • Miyaoka Hitoshi
    Department of Psychiatry, Kitasato University School of Medicine

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  • 体重減少からみた神経性無食欲症の特徴

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Body weight loss is one of the critical factors related to the clinical characteristics and treatment outcome in patients with anorexia nervosa (AN). A retrospecive chart review study of 148 AN patients was performed to investigate the relationship between the degree of weight loss and clinical characteristics of the AN patients. The subjects were classified into the significant-weight-loss group (less than or equal to 70% of the ideal body weight) and the mild-weight-loss group (more than 70%) according to their body weight when they first visited the hospital. Patients in the significant-weight-loss group were more frequently diagnosed as having the restrictive-type AN (significant-weight-loss group, 73.5% vs. mild-weight-loss group, 51.4%). Suicide attempts and self-induced vomiting were less frequently observed in patients in the significant-weight-loss gruop (Suicide attempts: significant-weight-loss gruop, 1.8% vs. mild-weight-loss group, 16.7%; vomiting: significant-weight-loss group, 20.2% vs. mild-weight-loss group, 59.0%). The treatment outcome was assessed in 35 patients. The general outcome of the patients who participated in this study (excellent, 9 (25.7%); much improved, 9 (25.7%); symptomatic, 7 (20.0%); poor outcome, 10 (28.6%) tended to be better than those observed in previous studies. There was no significant-difference in the treatment outcome between the significant-weight-loss group and the mild-weight-loss group. This result indicates that the degree of body weight loss is not necessarily related to the poor treatment outcome and that even AN patients who do not exhibit significant-body weight loss should be given proper treatment.

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