Do adolescents with eating disorder not otherwise specified or full-syndrome bulimia nervosa differ in clinical severity, comorbidity, risk factors, treatment outcome or cost?

Objective: we wanted to know whether adolescents with eating disorder not otherwise specified (EDNOS) differ from those With bulimia nervosa (BN) in clinical features, comorbidity, risk factors, treatment Outcome or cost. Method: Adolescents with EDNOS (n = 24) or BN (n = 61) took part in a trial of family therapy Versus guided self-care. At baseline. eating disorder symptoms, risk factors, and costs were assessed by interview. Patients were reinterviewed at 6 and 12 months. Results: Compared with EDNOS, BN patients hinged. vomited and purged significantly more, and were more preoccupied with food. Those with EDNOS had more depression and had more current and childhood obsessive-compulsive disorder. 66.6% of EDNOS versus 27.8% of BN patients were abstinent from bingeing and vomiting at 1 year. Diagnosis did not moderate treatment Outcome. Costs did not differ between groups. Conclusion: EDNOS in adolescents is not trival. It has milder eating disorder symptoms but more comorbidity than BN. (C) 2008 by Wiley Periodicals, Inc.