Table 1.
Differences in sociodemographic and clinical data for patients with short, medium, and long duration of illness.
| Total sample inpatients with AN n = 169 | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| <3 years | ≥3 and <7 years | ≥7 years | Test statistics | ||||||
| Short duration (SD-AN) n = 76 | Medium duration (MD-AN) n = 47 | Long duration (LD-AN) n = 46 | |||||||
| Mean (SD) | N (%) | Mean (SD) | N (%) | Mean (SD) | N (%) | F | p | Sheffè post hoc | |
| Age, years | 19.6 (4.9) | 23.1 (7.5) | 31.7 (9.4) | 41.75 | <0.001 | SD-AN < MD-AN < LD-AN | |||
| Gender | 0.735 a | ||||||||
| Female | 71 (93.4) | 43 (91.5) | 44 (95.7) | ||||||
| Male | 5 (6.6) | 4 (8.5) | 2 (4.3) | ||||||
| Status | 0.001 a | ||||||||
| Single | 66 (86.8)b | 40 (85.1)b | 27 (58.7)c | ||||||
| In a relationship/married | 10 (13.2)b | 7 (14.9)b | 17 (37)c | ||||||
| Divorced | 0 (0)b | 0 (0)b | 2 (4.3)b | ||||||
| Employment | <0.001 a | ||||||||
| Student | 34 (44.7)b | 19 (40.4)b | 5 (10.9)b | ||||||
| Employed | 33 (43.4)b | 18 (38.3)b | 23 (50)b | ||||||
| Unemployed | 9 (11.9)b | 10 (21.3)b,c | 18 (39.1)c | ||||||
| Subtype of AN | 0.006 a | ||||||||
| AN-R | 65 (85.5)b | 31 (66)c | 29 (63)c | ||||||
| AN-BP | 11 (14.5)b | 16 (34)c | 17 (37)c | ||||||
| Diagnostic cross-over in the past | 3 (4)b | 7 (14.9)b,c | 9 (20)c | 0.014 a | |||||
| Age at onset, years | 18.3 (5.2) | 18.9 (7.5) | 15.8 (4.1) | 3.159 | 0.046 | SD-AN = MD-AN | |||
| MD-AN = LD-AN | |||||||||
| SD-AN > LD-AN d | |||||||||
| Body mass index | 14.4 (1.9) | 14.4 (1.7) | 14.3 (2.1) | 0.007 | 0.993 | – | |||
| Lowest lifetime BMI | 14.1 (2) | 13.7 (1.6) | 12.8 (1.9) | 5.91 | 0.003 | SD-AN = MD-AN | |||
| MD-AN = LD-AN | |||||||||
| SD-AN > LD-AN | |||||||||
| Previous AN-related hospitalizations | 21 (31.3)b | 23 (48.9)c | 29 (63)c | <0.001 a | |||||
| Number of previous hospitalizations | 0.4 (.8) | 1.1 (1.6) | 2.6 (3.2) | 17.91 | <0.001 | SD-AN = MD-AN | |||
| MD-AN = LD-AN | |||||||||
| SD-AN < LD-AN | |||||||||
| Use of medications upon admission | 44 (57.9) | 31 (66) | 30 (65.2) | 0.585 a | |||||
| Ineffective therapeutic strategies before admission | |||||||||
| Medications | 14 (18.4)b | 14 (30.4)c | 25 (54.3)c | 0.001 a | |||||
| Psychotherapy | 24 (31.6)b | 27 (57.4)c | 29 (63)c | 0.002 a | |||||
| History of sexual abuse | 4 (5.3) | 6 (12.8) | 6 (13) | 0.212 a | |||||
| Family history of psychiatric disorders | 22 (28.9) | 14 (30.4) | 17 (37) | 0.688 a | |||||
| Family history of eating disorders | 11 (14.5) | 9 (19.1) | 8 (17.4) | 0.805 a | |||||
| History of previous suicide attempts | 13 (17.1) | 13 (27.7) | 10 (21.7) | 0.359 a | |||||
a
p-value of the Fisher’s exact test.
d
p-value = 0.066.