Somatic involvement assessed through a cumulative score of clinical severity in patients with eating disorders

To evaluate the overall somatic involvement in patients with eating disorders (EDs).

The medical records of 206 patients (age 15-56 years, 96.1% females) with diagnosis of anorexia nervosa (AN, n = 63, 30.6%), bulimia nervosa (BN, n = 78, 37.9%), or eating disorder not otherwise specified (EDNOS, n = 65, 31.6 %) were analyzed. A cumulative score of clinical severity (SCS) was computed according to the presence of physical, instrumental, and laboratory abnormalities, as well as to their prognostic impact. Based on the tertile distribution of SCS, three levels of severity were defined: low, medium, and high.

A medium/high level of severity was found in 63% of the whole sample, 89% of AN, 49% of BN, and 55% of EDNOS. In the whole sample, the risk of medium/high SCS was significantly and inversely related to the body mass index (BMI) and to the lifetime minimum BMI. The severity level was significantly and positively associated with diagnosis of AN, duration of amenorrhea C1 year, and presence of ED-related symptoms. EDNOS patients showed a higher risk for increased SCS than BN patients, although not significantly.

The non-negligible frequency of a relevant somatic involvement in patients with EDNOS suggests that a transdiagnostic scoring system might be helpful to identify ED cases at risk of medical complications.