Anorexia Nervosa: A Study in Prognosis and Management

In order to investigate the prognosis and management of anorexia nervosa, the authors made a follow-up study of 36 female patients who had been hospitalized with that diagnosis. Very few of the patients died. The authors feel that the physician should not be coerced into a pattern of action which duplicates the behavior of the patients' parents and that the criteria for hospitalizing an anorectic patient should be similar to those for hospitalizing any patient; hospitalization should not be considered a prerequisite for successful outcome.