Abstract
Most of anorexia nervosa (AN) patients require hospital treatment because of difficulties in the physical management of their remarkably reduced body weight. In the present study, we investigated the clinical and psychological features of 12 AN patients who were able to regain normal body weight with the resumption of menstruation and to readapt to a normal social life by an outpatient treatment alone (outpatient group). Controls were 39 AN patients who received hospital treatment at Kyushu University Hospital in the past two years (inpatient group). All inpatients had AN of the restricting type. The age at first visit was significantly lower and the duration of illness was shorter in the outpatient group than in the inpatient group. The outpatient group had a significantly lower depression score and a lower trait anxiety score than the inpatient group. Also, the outpatient group had a significantly lower ineffectiveness score and a lower total score as well as lower scores of drive for thinness, perfectionism and interpersonal distrust in Eating Disorder Inventory. In conclusion, the data shows that the psychopathology of the outpatient group, as well as the psychopathology related to the eating disorder itself, was of lower severity in general than that was found in the inpatient group.
