High Mortality Risk for Bulimia Nervosa and Unspecified Eating Disorders

Acknowlegement about the seriousness of EDs other than AN.  All EDs kill!

A large, long-term study extends the finding of high death rates in anorexia nervosa to bulimia nervosa and other eating disorders. Crow et al. (p. 1342) determined diagnoses for 1,885 outpatients with eating disorders evaluated between 1979 and 1997 and searched the National Death Index for matches through 2004. The crude mortality rates for the patients with diagnoses of anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, and "eating disorder not otherwise specified" were 4.0%, 3.9%, and 5.2%, respectively. Compared to national mortality data for demographically similar groups, the rate for eating disorder not otherwise specified was significantly elevated, suggesting that this diagnosis does not indicate a less severe disorder. In addition, 13 of the 84 deaths identified were due to suicide, and eight of these were among the patients with bulimia nervosa. These findings are discussed by Dr. Walter Kaye in an editorial on p. 1309.