Gone, but not forgotten: an examination of the factors associated with dropping out from treatment of eating disorders

Abstract

This paper examined the factors associated with dropping out from treatment at the Oxford Adult Eating Disorders Service between May 1994 and December 2002. A logistic regression was carried out to identify if any relationship existed between treatment dropout and such factors as duration of disorder, patient problem rating (measuring perceived severity), impulse regulation and severity of disorder (measured by BMI at assessment, frequency of objective binges at assessment and frequency of vomiting at assessment). The only factor which significantly predicted treatment dropout was impulsivity (measured by the EDI). An exploratory stepwise discriminant function analysis highlighted five further factors which warranted additional investigation. These were EDI body dissatisfaction, EDI perfectionism, Social Adjustment Scale, frequency of objective binges and EDI maturity fears. Implications for clinical practice and areas for further research are discussed. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and Eating Disorders Association.