How precisely can psychotherapists predict the long‐term outcome of anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa at the end of inpatient treatment?

Abstract

Objective To assess the ability of psychotherapists to predict the future outcome for inpatients with anorexia nervosa (AN) and bulimia nervosa (BN). Method Psychotherapists rated the prognosis of the patient's eating disorder on a five point Likert scale on several dimensions at the end of inpatient treatment. Actual outcome was assessed about 10 years after treatment. The sample comprised 1,065 patients treated for AN, and 1,192 patients treated for BN. Results Psychotherapists' rating of their patient's prognosis was not better than chance for good outcome in AN and BN and for poor outcome in BN. Prediction of poor outcome in AN was somewhat better with approximately two thirds of correct predictions. In logistic regression analysis, psychotherapists' rating of the patients' prognosis for AN contributed to the explained variance of long‐term outcome, increasing the variance explained from 7% (by conventional predictors) to 8% after including psychotherapists' prognosis. In BN, there was no significant contribution of psychotherapists' prognosis to overall prediction. Discussion Our current knowledge of risk and protective factors for the course of eating disorders is unsatisfying. More specialized research is urgently needed.

A randomized controlled trial on long‐term effectiveness of a psychosocial aftercare program following paediatric chronic pain treatment: Who benefits the most?

“…Healthcare providers involved in a patient's care may have a deeper understanding of how a family's psychosocial burden impacts treatment effectiveness and the general course of the patient's illness. For instance psychotherapists were able to predict poor long‐term treatment outcome after inpatient treatment of anorexia nervosa with moderate accuracy; however, they were unable to predict treatment outcome for bulimia (Fichter & Quadflieg, 2020). To our knowledge, no research has investigated the ability of the treating healthcare professionals to predict treatment outcomes in paediatric chronic pain.…”

Does anorexia nervosa with adolescent onset need long-term follow-up?

“…Nevertheless, our current knowledge of risk and protective factors for the course of EDs is still unsatisfying [ 7 ]. Only few studies have evaluated long-term follow-up in patients treated for AN.…”