title: The relationship between premorbid body weight and weight at referral, at discharge and at 1-year follow-up in anorexia nervosa.
abstract: Body mass index (BMI) is one of the most important outcome predictors in patients with anorexia nervosa (AN). A low premorbid BMI percentile calculated by the patients recalled premorbid weight and the height at first admission has been found to predict the BMI at first inpatient admission. In this study, we sought to confirm this relationship. We additionally analyze the relationship between premorbid BMI percentile and BMI percentile at discharge from the first inpatient treatment and at 1-year follow-up or alternatively if applicable upon readmission within this time period. We included 161 female patients aged 11-18 years of the multisite ANDI-trial with a DSM-IV diagnosis of AN. We used a multivariate statistical model including the independent variables age, duration of illness, duration of treatment, BMI at admission and BMI percentile at discharge. The relationship between premorbid BMI percentile and BMI at admission was solidly confirmed. In addition to premorbid BMI percentile, BMI at admission and age were significant predictors of BMI percentile at discharge. BMI percentile at discharge significantly predicted BMI percentile at 1-year follow-up. An additional analysis that merely included variables available upon referral revealed that premorbid BMI percentile predicts the 1-year follow-up BMI percentile. Further studies are required to identify the underlying biological mechanisms and to address the respective treatment strategies for AN patients with a low or high premorbid BMI percentile.
authors.affiliation: Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychosomatics and Psychotherapy, University Hospital Essen, University of Duisburg-Essen, Wickenburgstr. 21, 45147, Essen, Germany, Manuel.Foecker@uni-due.de.
authors.forename: Manuel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Föcker
authors.forename: Katharina
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Bühren
authors.forename: Nina
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Timmesfeld
authors.forename: Astrid
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Dempfle
authors.forename: Susanne
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Knoll
authors.forename: Reinhild
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Schwarte
authors.forename: Karin Maria
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Egberts
authors.forename: Ernst
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Pfeiffer
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Fleischhaker
authors.forename: Christoph
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Wewetzer
authors.forename: Johannes
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hebebrand
authors.forename: Beate
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Herpertz-Dahlmann
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000367:Age Factors; D000856:Anorexia Nervosa / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000628:therapy; D015992:Body Mass Index; D001835:Body Weight; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010343:Patient Admission; D010351:Patient Discharge; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011379:Prognosis; D012017:Referral and Consultation; D013997:Time Factors; D015430:Weight Gain; D015431:Weight Loss