FIRST RECOVERY IN ANOREXIA-NERVOSA PATIENTS IN THE LONG-TERM COURSE -A DISCRETE-TIME SURVIVAL ANALYSIS

The results of a 12-year follow-up study of occurrence and timing of f irst recovery in 69 hospitalized patients with severe anorexia nervosa (AN) are presented. For the first rime discrete-time survival analysi s methods were used to determine the likelihood of recovery in AN pati ents. Furthermore, predictors gleaned from pretreatment-posttreatment studies of long-term outcome in AN could be evaluated as to their effe ct on a change in the time course structure of the likelihood of first recovery. Results show that AN condition did not improve until after 6 years after the first inpatient treatment in 50% of patients. Howeve r, a restricter-type AN and low serum creatinine levels were predictor s for earlier recovery. One specific effect was that AN patients who s how purging behavior in combination with additional social disturbance s have a lower chance of recovering. The use of discrete-time survival analysis methodology in further prospective studies will contribute t o the development of more tailored treatment of AN, which also takes t he individual phase of illness and specific aspects of the symptomatol ogy into account.