Anorexia Nervosa - Prognosis

Prognosis

The long term prognosis of anorexia is more on the favorable side. The National Comorbidity Replication Survey was conducted among more than 9,282 participants throughout the United States, the results found that the average duration of anorexia nervosa is 1.7 years. "Contrary to what people may believe, anorexia is not necessarily a chronic illness; in many cases, it runs its course and people get better..." However, there is still a percentage of 5%-20% of people diagnosed with anorexia nervosa who die from it, and the cause of death is mostly because of the direct health effects of the eating disorder to the body.

In cases of adolescent anorexia nervosa that utilize family-based treatment 75% of patients have a good outcome and an additional 15% show an intermediate yet more positive outcome. In a five year post treatment follow-up of Maudsley Family Therapy the full recovery rate was between 75% and 90%.

Some remedies, however, are proven to not have any value in resolving anorexia – "incarceration in hospital", which prohibits the patient from many basic privileges, such as using the bathroom independently, has been seen as catalysts in increasing weight and pushing patients away from the path to recovery.

Even in severe cases of AN, despite a noted 30% relapse rate after hospitalization, and a lengthy time to recovery ranging from 57 to 79 months, the full recovery rate was still 76%. There were minimal cases of relapse even at the long term follow-up conducted between 10–15 years. The long-term prognosis of anorexia nervosa is changeable: a fifth of patients stay severely ill, another fifth of patients recover fully and three fifths of patients have a fluctuating and chronic course (Gelder, Mayou and Geddes 2005).