Day hospitals for eating disorders

Day hospital treatment of eating disorders is growing in importance and has financial and clinical advantages in comparison to inpatient settings. It is cheaper and day-hospital treatment allows patients to maintain their social contacts and to apply the lessons learnt in the course of their treatment in their everyday lives. A study of 83 eating-disorder patients in Germany (47 with anorexia and 36 with bulimia) assessed them before treatment in a day hospital, at the end of their treatment and 18 months after treatment. Outcome measures were body-mass index, disturbed eating attitudes and behaviours, frequencies of binging and purging and general mental health. At the end of the day-hospital treatment significant improvement could be found on all outcome variables and the effects were maintained or improved until follow-up. At follow-up 40.2% of anorexia patients and 40.4% of bulimia patients could be classified as remitted and the patients' general mental health was also significantly improved.

Fittig, Eike ... [et al] - Effectiveness of day hospital treatment for anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa European Eating Disorders Review September-October 2008, 16(5), 341-351