title: Trajectories of eating and clinical symptoms over the course of a day hospital program for eating disorders.
abstract: Although it is well-established that day hospital programs for eating disorders significantly reduce clinical symptoms, the pre-test/post-test designs that were previously used do not provide information regarding the trajectory of symptoms during treatment. This study observed, on a weekly basis, the evolution of symptoms of 61 women suffering from eating disorders engaged in a day hospital program, and compared the trajectories of specific subgroups of patients. Results show that (a) the first half of the program was crucial for symptom changes; (b) although completers and non-completers presented similar initial improvement, their trajectories rapidly differentiated; and (c) poorer respondents initially reported more symptoms, showed a slower improvement, and never reached the non-clinical zone, whereas better-respondents reached the non-clinical cut-off point more rapidly.
authors.affiliation: School of Psychology, Laval University, Quebec, Quebec, Canada.
authors.forename: Catherine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Bégin
authors.forename: Marie-Pierre
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: Gagnon-Girouard
authors.forename: Annie
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Aimé
authors.forename: Carole
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Ratté
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001007:Anxiety; D003631:Day Care, Medical / Q000379:methods / Q000523:psychology*; D003863:Depression; D001068:Feeding and Eating Disorders / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D009042:Motivation; D010349:Patient Compliance; D016730:Program Development; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D016896:Treatment Outcome