Reproductive health outcomes among eating disordered females: a register-based follow-up study among former adolescent psychiatric inpatients

Abstract

Objective To analyze an association of eating disorders (EDs) to reproductive health outcomes among former adolescent psychiatric inpatients, hospitalized between the ages 13 and 17 years. The register-based follow-up information on psychiatric comorbidity and use of prescribed addictive psychotropic medication up to early adulthood were also explored. Methods A total of 31 (10.3%) women with a diagnosed ED were identified from the initial sample of 300 female adolescents, treated in psychiatric inpatient care between 2001 and 2006. The K-SADS-PL and EuropASI research instruments were used to gather information during the adolescent psychiatric hospitalization. The follow-up data for reproductive health outcomes and psychiatric comorbidity up to early adulthood were obtained from the national health care registers. Information on prescribed addictive psychotropic medication was provided by the Social Insurance Institution of Finland. In analyses, EDs were categorized into anorexia nervosa (AN) and other EDs (OED). AN accounted for 58.1% of all EDs. Of OEDs, the majority (69.1%) were bulimia. Results None of the women with AN, but 53.8% of those with OED had undergone medical abortions by early adulthood. Childbirths were emphasized in women with OED (61.5%) and a history of hospital-treated poisonings in women with AN (55.6%). High nicotine dependence in adolescence (30.8%) was a characteristic of women with OED. Conclusion Our study findings suggest that OED may expose affected women to various unfavorable reproductive health outcomes, particularly women with a history of psychiatric admissions. Recognizing the differences in young women with different subtypes of ED is important when discussing contraception and pregnancy.

Keywords

• abortion
• eating disorders
• pregnancy
• psychiatry
• anorexia nervosa