A recent study published in the International Journal of Eating Disorders has found that individuals with anorexia nervosa face significantly elevated mortality rates, which nearly double when accompanied by other psychiatric conditions.
The research, conducted in Denmark, analyzed data from 14,774 patients diagnosed with anorexia nervosa between 1977 and 2018. Participants were followed for a median duration of 9.1 years, with some monitored for as long as 40 years. Each patient was matched with ten age- and sex-matched individuals from the general population for comparative analysis.
The findings revealed that patients with anorexia nervosa had a mortality risk 4.5 times higher than that of the general population. Notably, 47% of these patients also suffered from additional psychiatric conditions, and this comorbidity was linked to a 1.9-fold increase in the risk of mortality over a ten-year period. For those diagnosed with anorexia nervosa between the ages of 6 and 25, the presence of a psychiatric condition raised the ten-year mortality risk fourfold.
The study indicated that the increased mortality risk was consistent across both sexes. Alarmingly, 13.9% of deaths among patients with anorexia nervosa were attributed to suicide, underscoring the severity of the condition.
These findings underscore the urgent need for healthcare professionals to identify and address co-occurring mental health disorders in adolescents and adults suffering from anorexia nervosa, according to Mette Søeby, the study’s corresponding author and a medical doctor and PhD student at Aarhus University/Aarhus University Hospital.
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