Relationship between control and the intermediate term outcome of anorexia nervosa in Hong Kong.
OBJECTIVE
To examine the relationship between control and the intermediate term outcome of Chinese patients with anorexia nervosa.


METHODS
88 patients who fulfilled the DSM-III-R criteria for typical (fat phobic, n=63) and atypical (non-fat phobic, n=25) anorexia nervosa were contacted 9 years after the onset of illness. They completed the Morgan-Russell Outcome Assessment Schedule, Shapiro Control Inventory, and Eating Disorder Inventory-I.


RESULTS
62.2%, 32.4% and 5.4% of patients had good, intermediate, and poor outcome. Outcome was positively correlated with the overall general and specific sense of control, positive sense of control, and negatively with negative sense of control. Patients with good outcome exhibited the least negative modes of control and had the least desire for control. Typical and atypical patients showed similar but not identical control profiles.


CONCLUSIONS
Healthier control was associated with better outcome of anorexia nervosa but their causal relationship was far from clear because of the cross-sectional nature of the present study. The Shapiro Control Inventory is a potentially useful instrument for studying control in eating disorders.
Lee
Sing
S
Department of Psychiatry and Hong Kong Eating Disorders Center, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong. singlee@cuhk.edu.hk
Chan
Y Y Lydia
YY
Kwok
Kathleen
K
Hsu
L K George
LK
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000856:Anorexia Nervosa / Q000208:ethnology / Q000523:psychology* / Q000628:therapy*; D044466:Asian People / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006723:Hong Kong; D006801:Humans; D007389:Internal-External Control; D010555:Personality Inventory / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011379:Prognosis; D011594:Psychometrics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D013223:Statistics as Topic