TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2022//
TI  - Suicidality in adolescents with onset of anorexia nervosa
JO  - Eating and weight disorders - studies on anorexia, bulimia and obesity
A1  - Mereu, Alberta
A1  - Fantoni, Teresa
A1  - Caini, Saverio
A1  - Monzali, Francesca
A1  - Roselli, Elena
A1  - Taddei, Silvia
A1  - Lucarelli, Stefano
A1  - Pisano, Tiziana
SP  - ePub
EP  - ePub
VL  - ePub
IS  - ePub
N2  - OBJECTIVES: The mortality rate in patients with anorexia nervosa (AN) is 5 to 10 times higher than in general population and, suicide is one of the main causes of death. We evaluated the prevalence of suicidality (ideation, self-injurious behaviour, suicidal attempts) in 100 adolescents with onset of AN and we explored the correlation between suicidality, severity of AN symptoms and psychiatric comorbidity. <br><br>METHODS: We subdivided AN patients into restrictive (R-AN; n = 66) and restrictive atypical (A-AN; n = 34), according to the European Guidelines criteria. Assessment was performed using the eating disorder inventory 3rd version, the schedule for affective disorders and schizophrenia for school-age children-present and lifetime version interview, and the Columbia-suicide severity rating scale. Fisher's exact test and Mann-Whitney test (with correction for multiple testing) were used to compare the distribution of categorical and continuous variables between R-AN and A-AN patients, and between patients with vs. without suicidal behaviours. <br><br>RESULTS: Twenty-seven patients (27%) presented suicidality as clinical feature, expressed as at least one of the following: suicidal ideation (24%), self-cutting (19%), and suicidal attempt (6%). Patients with suicidality showed greater severity of psychiatric symptoms related to AN psychopathology and presented psychiatric comorbidity, especially depression, more often than patients who did not reported suicidality (70,4% vs 29,6%). No significant differences in terms of suicidal behaviours and AN-specific psychopathology were found between R-AN and A-AN. <br><br>CONCLUSIONS: Suicidality in adolescent patients with R-AN and A-AN seems to be related to ED symptoms. These data highlight the importance of screening for suicidality among adolescents at onset of AN, and confirms that A-AN should not be considered a milder disease. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Level IV: Evidence obtained from multiple time series analysis such as case studies. (NB: Dramatic results in uncontrolled trials might also be regarded as this type of evidence).<p />  <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 1124-4909
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s40519-022-01384-9
ID  - ref1
ER  -