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Weight Suppression But Not Symptom Improvement Predicts Weight Gain During Inpatient Treatment for Bulimia Nervosa
Author(s) -
Hessler Johannes Baltasar,
Diedrich Alice,
Greetfeld Martin,
Schlegl Sandra,
Schwartz Caroline,
Voderholzer Ulrich
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
european eating disorders review
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.511
H-Index - 67
eISSN - 1099-0968
pISSN - 1072-4133
DOI - 10.1002/erv.2573
Subject(s) - bulimia nervosa , weight gain , eating disorders , body mass index , analysis of variance , anorexia nervosa , psychology , weight loss , weight change , medicine , psychiatry , body weight , obesity
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 0.54 kg/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. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and Eating Disorders Association.