Eating and Weight Disorders · 6 authors, 8 centres
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A prospective cohort study assessed cognitive functioning in 33 patients with severe or extreme anorexia nervosa at admission, discharge, and follow-up during intensive nutritional stabilization. Patients displayed normal cognitive performance at admission and showed improvements in memory, attention, and processing speed during treatment, but cognitive improvement was not associated with weight gain.
This prospective cohort study enrolled 33 patients aged 16–42 years with severe or extreme anorexia nervosa admitted to a specialized nutrition unit. Cognitive assessments of memory, cognitive flexibility, processing speed, and attention were administered a few days after admission (after fluid–electrolyte correction but before weight gain), at discharge (n=22), and at follow-up up to 6 months post-discharge (n=18). Mean hospitalization duration was 6 weeks. Patients displayed normal cognitive performance at admission compared to normative data. During treatment, body weight increased by a mean of 11.3% (range 2.6–22.2%), and memory, attention, and processing speed improved significantly (p values ≤0.0002). No statistically significant association was found between weight gain and cognitive improvement at discharge or follow-up. Limitations include the use of normative data rather than a matched control group, variable follow-up timing, potential ceiling effects, small sample size with high dropout, and no measure of general cognitive ability. The findings suggest patients with severe anorexia nervosa need not be excluded from cognitively demanding tasks, possibly including psychotherapy, though other symptoms may still interfere.
