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Randomized controlled trial of warming in anorexia nervosa
C Laird Birmingham1, Emilio Gutierrez, Lee Jonat
1Department of Psychiatry, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. clbirm@interchange.ubc.ca
Objective:
To determine if warming therapy increases the rate of weight gain in patients with anorexia nervosa (AN) who are hospitalized for refeeding.
Method:
Patients admitted to an eating disorders unit of a university teaching hospital were randomized to treatment and control arms. All patients wore a heating vest for 3 hr a day for 21 days. In the experimental arm, the vest was set to medium heat and in the control arm it was set in the off position.
Results:
Twenty-one females were recruited. They had an average age of 28.4 +/- 6.6 years, a body mass index (BMI) of 17.7 +/- 2.8, and the duration of AN lasted 13.6 +/- 6.7 years. Ten subjects were randomized to the treatment arm and 11 to the control arm. Of the 18 completers, there was no difference in the change in BMI.
Discussion:
Our study did not demonstrate an increase in the rate of weight gain with warming.