Maintenance treatment for anorexia nervosa:

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to compare two maintenance treatment conditions for weight-restored anorexia nervosa (AN): individual cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) and maintenance treatment as usual (MTAU). METHOD: This study was a nonrandomized clinical trial. The participants were 88 patients with AN who had achieved a minimum body mass index (BMI) of 19.5 and control of binge eating and purging symptoms after completing a specialized hospital-based program. Forty-six patients received 1 year of manualized individual CBT and 42 were in an assessment-only control condition (i.e., MTAU) for 1 year. This condition was intended to mirror follow-up care as usual. Participants in both the conditions were assessed at 3-month intervals during the 1-year study. The main outcome variable was time to relapse. RESULTS: When relapse was defined as a BMI Int J Eat Disord. 2009 Apr;42(3):202-7. Carter JC, McFarlane TL, Bewell C, Olmsted MP, Woodside DB, Kaplan AS, Crosby RD. Department of Psychiatry, Toronto General Hospital, University Health Network, Toronto, Canada. jacqueline.carter@uhn.on.ca