Nutritional indicators and metabolic alterations in outpatients with anorexia nervosa: a retrospective study

PURPOSE: In patients living with Anorexia Nervosa (AN), dehydration and haemoconcentration, may prevent a correct interpretation of laboratory nutritional parameters. Our study aims to evaluate if some indicators of disease severity, as body mass index (BMI), Phase Angle (PhA) and months of amenorrhea may be predictors of metabolic alterations (serum albumin, liver enzymes). METHODS: In 154 outpatients with AN, case history was collected, and anthropometric and laboratory parameters measured. Patients were divided according to the following tertiles (T) of BMI, duration of amenorrhea and PhA: (1) BMI (T1 < 15.6; T2 15.6–16.8; T3 > 16.8 kg/m(2)); (2) Amenorrhea duration (T1 < 7; T2 7–14; T3 > 14 months); (3) PhA value (T1 < 4.64; T2 4.64–5.35; T3: > 5.35°). ROC curves were used to determine which of these three indicators (BMI, PhA and amenorrhea duration) might better identify patients belonging to Group A or B (less than 3 or more metabolic abnormalities). RESULTS: The most frequent registered metabolic alterations were for alkaline phosphatase (ALP), alanine aminotransferase, cholesterol and hemoglobin. Aspartate aminotransferase, ALP and gamma glutamyl transferase abnormalities were frequent in the first tertiles of all the three indicators. Albumin was low in the T1 of BMI and PhA. No differences in nutritional alterations emerged according to amenorrhea duration. PhA had the best performance (AUCs: 0.721) in identifying patients with 3 or more abnormalities, with the optimal cut-off value of 4.5°. CONCLUSIONS: Our data confirmed PhA as the more reliable predictor of metabolic alterations, followed by BMI and amenorrhea duration, especially in the first tertile. EVIDENCE-BASED MEDICINE: Level 2.