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Eating disorders linked to high patient mortality rates

By Staff Writer

A team of researchers from Leicester General Hospital in England recently conducted a survey that reveals that hospital patients who have an eating disorder, such as anorexia nervosa (AN) or bulimia nervosa (BN), have a higher rate of death than other individuals.

In order to come to this conclusion, researchers looked at the results from a variety of studies that were conducted between 1966 and 2010. Most of these studies focused on either AN or BN and were able to give researchers access to information from more than 17,000 patients.

The results of their study indicated that the standardized mortality ratio, or the number of actual deaths compared to the number of expected deaths, was 5.86 for patients who had AN and 1.92 for people who had BN. Eating disorder-related deaths were most likely to occur in people who were in their teens and early 20s.

Parents who are concerned that their children have developed eating disorders may want to consider enrolling them in therapeutic schools. Faculty at these institutions may be qualified to manage a variety of teen mental and behavioral issues.

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