Prognostic implications of stable versus transient "borderline features" in bulimic patients.
BACKGROUND
This study examined the association between "borderline features" and treatment response in bulimic patients.


METHODS
Treatment response was assessed in 69 bulimic patients over 6 months of treatment (and 1-year response in 44 of the patients). Patients were classified as a function of whether "borderline features" were (1) "stably" present (at pretreatment and after 3 months), (2) "transiently" present (at pretreatment only), or (3) "absent" (at both time points).


RESULTS
The stably borderline profile coincided systematically with Axis II comorbidity (not with mood disorders) and was generally predictive of poorer 6- and 12-month response of eating and comorbid symptoms. Hierarchical regressions showed predictive effects to have a partial independence from effects caused by concurrent eating symptoms and depression.


CONCLUSIONS
Results highlight the importance, with respect to prognosis in bulimia nervosa, of establishing the temporal stability of features that imply character disturbance.
Steiger
H
H
Eating Disorders Program, Douglas Hospital Centre, Montreal, (Verdun), Quebec Canada.
Stotland
S
S
Houle
L
L
D000328:Adult; D000553:Ambulatory Care; D001883:Borderline Personality Disorder / Q000145:classification / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology; D002032:Bulimia / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000628:therapy; D015897:Comorbidity; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D010555:Personality Inventory / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011379:Prognosis; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012720:Severity of Illness Index