Am J Psychiatry 1990; 147:871-875
Copyright © 1990 by American Psychiatric Association
Maintenance treatment and 6-month outcome for bulimic patients who respond to initial treatment
RL Pyle, JE Mitchell, ED Eckert, D Hatsukami, C Pomeroy and R Zimmerman
Department of Psychiatry, University of Minnesota Medical School, Minneapolis 55455.
Bulimic subjects who responded to intensive group psychotherapy plus
imipramine or placebo or to imipramine alone (N = 68) were assigned to
4-month maintenance with weekly support groups and/or medication (placebo
or imipramine) and were evaluated 6 months after initial treatment (N =
61). Thirty percent of the subjects relapsed during the 6 months. Initial
treatment with group psychotherapy plus placebo or imipramine was
associated with a lower relapse rate than initial treatment with imipramine
alone. Neither attendance at the maintenance group sessions nor imipramine
maintenance was associated with better outcome.
