Mandometer treatment not superior to treatment as usual for anorexia nervosa

OBJECTIVE: A comparison of the efficacy of a novel treatment method for anorexia nervosa (AN), the Mandometer treatment (MT), with treatment as usual (TAU).

METHOD: During treatment data were collected to determine weight recovery and outcome as assessed by the Morgan Russell Outcome Assessment Schedule (MROAS).

RESULTS: After treatment 63% of the MT group and 85% of the TAU group had reached a normal weight level and both MT and TAU showed a good outcome on the MROAS (75 and 71%, respectively). After two years more MT than TAU patients were still in treatment and more MT patients had relapsed.

DISCUSSION: The outcome for both treatments in our study were similar and comparable with, if not better than outcome data of other AN studies. MT is not superior to TAU in outcome results and in relapse rate during the first two years following admission for AN treatment.