Causes of death in patients with a history of severe anorexia nervosa

Patricia Westmoreland, Alan Duffy, Renee Rienecke, Daniel Le Grange, Thomas Joiner, Jamie Manwaring, Ashlie Watters, Philip Mehler*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

10 Scopus citations

Abstract

Objective: This study reports causes of death for a cohort of 35 patients with severe anorexia nervosa (AN), who were treated between 2012 and 2020, and descriptive information on their medical and psychological comorbidities is provided. Methods: Three hundred and seventy patient names were submitted to the National Death Index (NDI). The NDI reviewed whether a death certificate matching each patient’s identifying information existed, and if it existed, specific causes of death were noted. The original group of 370 patients consisted of 229 individuals who had been treated voluntarily and 141 who had been treated involuntarily. Results: Thirty-five patients, from the 370 (9.4%) submitted to the NDI, with an initial diagnosis of AN, were confirmed deceased. Most (83%) were female with an average age of 38.5 years (SD:12.7) and average body mass index (BMI) of 12.8 kg/m2 (SD:2.4). The total number of patients, with AN listed as a cause of death, was 24 (69%). Two patients died as a result of suicide. Twenty-eight (80%) of the patients had a specific medical disease listed as a cause of death, with the most frequent being cardiovascular, metabolic, or gastrointestinal. Conclusions: AN is associated with a substantial risk of death from many medical causes. However, two (5.7%) of our sample died by suicide, a rate considerably lower than previously reported.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Article number200
JournalJournal of Eating Disorders
Volume10
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - Dec 2022

Keywords

  • Death
  • National Death Index (NDI)
  • Severe anorexia nervosa
  • Suicide

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Psychiatry and Mental health
  • Nutrition and Dietetics
  • Behavioral Neuroscience

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