Little-known Facts About Eating Disorders in Older Patients

The management and treatment of eating disorders in late life present a number of adversities that the clinician has to take into consideration.

In 2001, Hewitt and colleagues found that mortality from eating disorders, and specifically from anorexia nervosa, in the elderly was quite high: 10% in the 55 to 64 age-group, 12% in the 65 to 74 age-group, and 28% in the 85 and older group.

In one study, an increased level of body dissatisfaction was associated with higher BMI in mid-life and in older women. Source: Gagne DA et al.

In one study, 54% of the patients reported that some kind of stressful events had occurred before the development of the eating disorder. Source: “Eating disorders in the elderly.”

A study of inpatient middle-aged women who sought treatment for eating disorders found that older women gained more benefit from therapy targeting grief and loss than did younger patients. See “Characteristics of Middle-Aged Women in Inpatient Treatment for Eating Disorders.”

For more on this topic, see "Eating Disorders in Late Life: Implications for Clinicians," by Fragiskos Gonidakis, MD and Dafni Karapavlou, MSc, on which this slideshow is based.