TY  - JOUR
PY  - 1999//
TI  - Compulsory treatment in anorexia nervosa. Short-term benefits and long-term mortality
JO  - British journal of psychiatry
A1  - Ramsay, R.
A1  - Ward, A.
A1  - Treasure, J.
A1  - Russell, G. F.
SP  - 147
EP  - 153
VL  - 175
IS  - 
N2  - BACKGROUND: Anorexia nervosa is a mental disorder with a high long-term mortality. Patients are ambivalent about treatment and often avoid it. Of necessity, compulsory treatment sometimes must be considered. A report from the Mental Health Act Commission has helped to reduce previous confusion. AIMS: To identify the premorbid and clinical features that predisposed to compulsory admissions, the short-term benefits of the treatment and the long-term mortality rates (derived from the National Register). <br><br>METHOD: Eighty-one compulsory patients were compared with 81 voluntary patients. <br><br>RESULTS: Predisposing factors to a compulsory admission were a history of childhood sexual or physical abuse or previous self-harm. Detained patients had more previous admissions. Detained patients gained as much weight during admission as voluntary patients, but took longer. More deaths among compulsory than voluntary patients (10/79 v. 2/78) were found 5.7 years (mean) after admission. <br><br>CONCLUSIONS: Compulsory treatment is effective in the short term. The higher long-term mortality in the detained patients is due to selection factors associated with an intractable illness.<p />  <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 0007-1250
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1192/bjp.175.2.147
ID  - ref1
ER  -