Weight Suppression But Not Symptom Improvement Predicts Weight Gain During Inpatient Treatment for Bulimia Nervosa

Hessler, Johannes Baltasar; Diedrich, Alice; Greetfeld, Martin; Schlegl, Sandra; Schwartz, Caroline and Voderholzer, Ulrich (2018): Weight Suppression But Not Symptom Improvement Predicts Weight Gain During Inpatient Treatment for Bulimia Nervosa. In: European Eating Disorders Review, Vol. 26, No. 2: pp. 146-149

Abstract

Objective: Fear of gaining weight is a common obstacle to seeking treatment for bulimia nervosa (BN). We investigated changes in body mass index (BMI) during inpatient treatment for BN in relation to treatment outcome and weight suppression (WS). Methods: Female inpatients of a specialized eating disorders clinic were grouped as deteriorated/unchanged, reliably improved, and clinically significantly improved based on Eating Disorder Inventory-2 scores. Repeated measures ANOVA was employed to examine changes in BMI between admission and discharge depending on treatment outcome and WS. Results: One-hundred seventy-nine patients were included. Overall, the average BMI significantly increased by 0.54kg/m(2) (SD=1.24). Repeated measures ANOVA revealed no association of change in BMI with treatment outcome [F(df)=1.13 (2166), p=0.327] but with WS [F(df)=2.76 (3166), p<0.044]. Discussion: Bulimia nervosa can be successfully treated without causing excessive weight gain. Patients with higher WS might expect somewhat more weight gain.

• Item Type: Journal article
• Faculties: Medicine
• Subjects: 600 Technology > 610 Medicine and health
• ISSN: 1072-4133
• Language: English