2005 Volume 45 Issue 5 Pages 351-358
Objective : We previously showed that binge eating and purging were considered as addictive behaviors, and the eating disorders education program (EDEP) based on the addiction theory was useful for treating bulimia. This study was conducted to show the effectiveness of EDEP in patients with bulimia by outcomes of one year follow-up after inpatient EDEP treatment. Methods : The subjects were 49 Japanese female patients with eating disorders who were inpatients treated using EDEP from June 2001 to March 2003 at the Kurihama Alcoholism Center of the Japanese National Hospital Organization. A semi-structured interview concerning eating problems, psychiatric disorders, and other clinical characteristics was conducted at the time of admission by the authors. At the time of discharge, the subjects were assessed for changes of symptoms by the authors. A follow-up survey of the subjects concerning eating problems and social status was conducted one year after EDEP treatment by mail or by telephone. Results : Forty five of the 49 subjects (91.8%) were followed-up of 12.5 months after discharge. At the time of follow-up, 10 of the 45 subjects (22.2%) had no eating disorder symptoms, 4 (8.9%) had had symptom free periods for 3 months but had relapsed at the time of the survey, and 3 (6.7%) had died. Among the 35 living subjects who had eating disorder symptoms, 47.6% remained within the same subtype of eating disorders, and the rest had changed to another subtype at the time of follow-up. Mean BMI and mean GAF of the living subjects increased at the time of follow-up compared with those at discharges. Conclusion : A follow-up survey of one year after EDEP treatment showed that EDEP was effective in promoting slow recovery of patients with eating disorders.
