Review
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2022. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Psychiatry. Apr 19, 2022; 12(4): 558-579
Published online Apr 19, 2022. doi: 10.5498/wjp.v12.i4.558
Anorexia nervosa: Outpatient treatment and medical management
Stein Frostad, Mette Bentz
Stein Frostad, Department of Mental Health Research, Division of Psychiatry, Haukeland University Hospital, Bergen 5021, Norway
Mette Bentz, Child and Adolescent Mental Health Centre, Capital Region of Denmark, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen 2400, Denmark
Author contributions: Frostad S developed the framework of the paper; Frostad S and Bentz M both contributed to the review of literature, drafted the text, corrected the manuscript and approved the final version of the text.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors declare that there are no conflicts of interest.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Stein Frostad, MD, PhD, Senior Consultant Physician-Scientist, Senior Researcher, Department of Mental Health Research, Division of Psychiatry, Haukeland University Hospital, Jonas Lies vei 65, Bergen 5021, Norway. stein.frostad@helse-bergen.no
Received: March 18, 2021
Peer-review started: March 18, 2021
First decision: July 15, 2021
Revised: August 20, 2021
Accepted: February 22, 2022
Article in press: February 22, 2022
Published online: April 19, 2022
Processing time: 391 Days and 0.8 Hours
Core Tip

Core Tip: Outpatient psychotherapy is the mainstay of treatment of anorexia nervosa. Both early intervention and healthcare for severe and enduring anorexia nervosa are mainly performed in outpatient clinics. Even in severe and extreme anorexia nervosa outpatient psychotherapy is an alternative to inpatient treatment when the patient is medically stable. Medical management is essential for safe outpatient therapy. In this opinion review essentials in outpatient healthcare and medical management are discussed. Emerging therapies and outstanding research issues are addressed.