[Is psychotherapy able to increase quality of life in individuals with eating disorders?]

Quality of life in people with mental disorders is often reduced and should be considered during therapy. The aim of this study was to conduct a systematic review about the effectiveness of psychotherapeutic interventions on quality of life (QOL) in patients with eating disorders. Therefore, an electronic databases search was performed. From the results, 10 studies were included, of which 3 were randomized controlled trials. All studies varied in the interventions and outcome measures used. The results showed a significant increase of QOL through treatment. Yet, it remains unclear which factors of psychotherapy are able to increase QOL. It is recommended to conduct more randomized controlled trials using standardized outcome measures to assess long-term effects of psychotherapeutic interventions on QOL in eating disorders.