The outcome of adolescent anorexia nervosa: Findings from Berlin and Sofia

As part of a multisite collaborative outcome study of eating disorders in adolescence, two samples from West Berlin and Sofia were compared. The study was based on a systematic evaluation of the clinical status during the first inpatient treatment after onset of the disorder and personal interviews with the former patients at follow-up. Despite the differences in the cultural background, the clinical features, the diagnostic pattern, the developmental histories, the family background, and the follow-up findings were remarkably similar. The mortality rate was higher ir I the West Berlin than in the Sofia sample. However; the outcome in terms of the distribution of eating disorders was similar lit the surviving patients of the two samples.