Physical and psychological aspects of anorexia nervosa based on duration of illness: a cross-sectional study

Abstract

Abstract Background We evaluated physical and psychological features of patients with anorexia nervosa (AN) who differed by duration of illness. Methods Data were obtained from 204 female patients with AN, divided into two groups based on illness duration: short-term illness duration (less than 5 years; n = 118); and long-term duration (5 years or more; n = 86). Physical parameters were measured using blood serum testing and psychological aspects were assessed using various instruments. Results A significantly higher proportion of restricting type AN was observed in the short-term group while the proportion of binge eating/purging type AN was higher in the long-term group. There was no difference in body mass index (BMI) between the groups. Serum total protein, albumin, potassium, chloride, and calcium in the long-term group were significantly lower than in the short-term group. Overall scores on the Eating Disorder Inventory as well as most of the subscales, except maturity fears, were higher in the long-term group than in the short-term group. The care subscale of the Parental Bonding Instrument (PBI) was lower in the long-term group than in the short-term group, while the overprotection subscale of the PBI was higher in the long-term group than in the short-term group. Results of a multiple regression analysis indicated that the overprotection subscale of the PBI was the only significant predictor of duration of illness. Conclusions Duration of illness may be associated with physical and psychological features of AN; thus, adapting therapeutic approaches to illness duration might be necessary.

Keywords

• Anorexia nervosa
• Duration of illness
• Physical feature
• Psychological feature
• Eating disorder inventory
• Parental bonding inventory