One Hundred Referrals to an Eating Disorders Service: Progress and Service Consumption Over a 2–4 Year Period
✍ Scribed by Eric J. Button; Pamela Marshall; Rosemary Shinkwin; Susanna H. Black; Robert L. Palmer
- Publisher
- John Wiley and Sons
- Year
- 1997
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 116 KB
- Volume
- 5
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 1072-4133
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
✦ Synopsis
The progress and service consumption of a cohort of 100 referrals to an Eating Disorders Service over a 2±4 year period are examined. The median duration of contact was 9 months, but there was wide variation in service consumption. About half of all patients eventually dropped out of contact, including one-third who did not engage in treatment, but at the other extreme 7 per cent were still in contact after 4 years. Amongst those we succeeded in following up, three-quarters of patients felt subjectively improved and there was a reduction from 62 per cent to 33 per cent in those meeting criteria for anorexia nervosa or bulimia nervosa. Approximately twothirds of those with anorexia nervosa and half of those with bulimia nervosa no longer met criteria for the full syndromes. The implications of the ®ndings for those running or planning to run specialist eating disorders services are discussed.