Mortality and causes of death in eating disorders in Denmark 1970-1993: A case register study

✍ Scribed by Emborg, Charlotte

• Publisher: Wiley (John Wiley & Sons)
• Year: 1999
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 141 KB
• Volume: 25
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0276-3478
• DOI: 10.1002/(sici)1098-108x(199904)25:3<243::aid-eat1>3.0.co;2-2

✦ Synopsis

Objective:

The aim of this study is to describe mortality rates and causes of death for patients with eating disorders. Method: By means of record-linkage, the study includes all patients admitted and diagnosed as suffering from an eating disorder according to the ICD-8 classification system during the period 1970-1993 at any Danish psychiatric (since 1970) or somatic department (since 1977). The study includes 2,763 cases, of which 237 are males. Maximum follow-up time is 23 years and mean follow-up time is 10.3 years. Results: Crude mortality at follow-up is 8.4%. A significant excess mortality is demonstrated since the standardized mortality ratio (SMR) of the total patient population is 6.69 ) and the highest rate ratio (RR) of 14.92 relates to women aged 25-29. Discussion:

The study documents a significant excess mortality among eating-disordered patients.