A RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIAL OF FLUOXETINE AND COGNITIVE-BEHAVIORAL THERAPY FOR BULIMIA-NERVOSA - SHORT-TERM OUTCOME

This study compared and combined fluoxetine and individual cognitive b ehavioral therapy in the treatment of bulimia nervosa. Participants we re 76 women who sought treatment at the Eating Disorders Program of th e Toronto Hospital and who met DSM-III-R criteria for bulimia nervosa. Subjects were randomly assigned to receive fluoxetine alone, cognitiv e behavior therapy alone, or the two in combination and were treated o ver 16 weeks. Short-term outcome revealed that all three treatment con ditions were associated with clinical improvement across a wide range of parameters. The combination of pharmacotherapy and psychotherapy wa s superior to pharmacotherapy alone on specific parameters and there w as no statistically significant advantage to the combination over psyc hotherapy alone. Limitations to the study include the absence of a pla cebo pill group and a wailing list control group as well as a substant ial dropout rate across all three treatment conditions. (C) 1997 Elsev ier Science Ltd.