Physical fitness before and after weight restoration in anorexia nervosa

No systematic data have been systematically collected to classify the functionallevel of cardiovascular, muscular and resistance performances in patients withAnorexia Nervosa (AN) before and after weight restoration, even though AN areconsidered to be more physically active and to engage longer periods of moderateintensephysical exercise than the general population.PURPOSE. To investigate the effects of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) onphysical fitness of patients with AN and to evaluate the feasibility of the EurofitBattery test (EB) in this population. METHODS. Physical fitness was assessed withan adapted version of the EB (Endurance: 6’ walking test; Arm strength: hand grip;Abdominal: sit up; Leg strength: standing broad jump; Balance: flamingo balance;Flexibility: sit and reach) administered to 29 female AN inpatients (BMI: 14.35 ±1.51 kg/m2), pre and post CBT treatment, and to 58 healthy females (BMI: 21.17 ±2.57 kg/m2) of the same age (24.4 ± 9.2 vs. 25.9 ± 9.1 yy, respectively, z=1.39, p =0.165). AN group underwent test on the second day of the admission and the lastweek before the hospital discharge. RESULTS EB tests showed good feasibility, butsome AN patients refused to sustain some of them at the admission. CBT wasassociated with a significant improvement in BMI (from 14.3 ± 1.5 to 18.8 ± 1.2, Z =4.20, p < 0.001) and in 4 out of 6 EB tests (p<0.05) in the AN group. However, both inpre and post conditions, AN patients generally showed lower scores compared to thecontrol group (all p < 0.001), with the exception of sit up score.CONCLUSIONS. Adapted EB can be recommended for evaluating physical fitnessparameters in AN patients. Physical fitness is lower in AN patients than in controlsboth at baseline and after weight restoration. These data suggest the need toassociate to the classical inpatient treatment of AN, specific therapeutic strategiesto improve physical fitness