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Are there differences between men and women in outcome of intensive inpatient treatment for anorexia nervosa? An analysis of routine data
Author(s) -
Voderholzer Ulrich,
Hessler Johannes Baltasar,
Naab Silke,
Fichter Manfred,
Graetz Alexander,
Greetfeld Martin,
Heuser Jörg,
Schlegl Sandra
Publication year - 2019
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.2624
Subject(s) - anorexia nervosa , percentile , psychopathology , body mass index , eating disorders , analysis of variance , medicine , psychology , rating scale , clinical psychology , psychiatry , developmental psychology , statistics , mathematics
Objective Anorexia nervosa (AN) in men is rare and understudied. We compared admission characteristics and response to specialized inpatient treatment between men and women with AN. Method One hundred sixteen consecutive male patients with AN were matched to 116 female patients. Patients completed the self‐rating Structured Inventory for Anorexic and Bulimic Syndromes (SIAB‐S) at admission and discharge. Differences at admission and in treatment response were examined with independent samples t ‐tests and ANOVA for repeated measures, respectively. Results Men had lower body mass index (BMI)‐percentiles (Cohen's d = −0.55), higher levels of weight suppression ( d = 0.65), and higher scores in the SIAB‐S general psychopathology and social integration scale ( d = 0.47) at admission. There were no differences in response to treatment except for changes in BMI‐percentile ( F = 4.49, p = 0.035). Conclusions There were more similarities than differences between genders in AN. Because this similarity might be confounded with traditionally “feminine” conceptualizations of AN, further studies of male AN are needed.