DOES ADJUNCTIVE FLUOXETINE INFLUENCE THE POST-HOSPITAL COURSE OF RESTRICTOR-TYPE ANOREXIA-NERVOSA - A 24-MONTH PROSPECTIVE, LONGITUDINAL FOLLOW-UP AND COMPARISON WITH HISTORICAL CONTROLS

A 24-month naturalistic, prospective longitudinal followup study was c onducted on 33 patients with anorexia nervosa who had participated in an intensive, multidisciplinary inpatient treatment program and were r eceiving fluoxetine as part of their continuing treatment regimen. Dat a on course, outcome, and treatment exposure in this cohort were obtai ned using standardized, comprehensive interviews administered at B-mon th intervals after hospital discharge. Longitudinal course data for th ese patients were compared with data for matched historical controls w ho had received identical inpatient and followup treatment but without adjunctive fluoxetine. Analyses failed to show that fluoxetine had a significant effect on the cumulative probability of remaining at targe t weight during the followup period, the risk of sustained weight loss , or other clinical measures of outcome. Thus, adjunctive treatment wi th fluoxetine may not have additive long-term therapeutic benefit when measured against the effects of sustained and intensive followup trea tment.