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Although premature mortality is known to be frequent among patients with anorexia nervosa (AN) and bulimia nervosa (BN), little has been discovered about specific predictors of timing and other factors associated with risk for death. These investigators interviewed 246 patients with AN, BN, or both every 6 to 12 months for a median of 9 years; mortality was ascertained for a median of 20 years overall. Researchers determined standardized mortality ratios (SMRs; an age-adjusted ratio of observed-to-expected death rates in a population cohort).
SMR was significantly elevated with lifetime AN but not lifetime BN (SMRs: AN, 4.37; BN, 2.33). Risk for death was highest in patients with lifetime AN within the first 10 years of follow-up (SMR, 7.7).…