Psychotropic medications in adult and adolescent eating disorders: clinical practice versus evidence-based recommendations.

Aim: The current study examined the frequency of psychotropic prescriptions in a clinical sample of eating disorder (ED) patients confirming earlier research indicating their use is very common but inconsistent with evidence-based recommendations.

Methods: The sample consisted of 501 ED patients admitted to an adult partial hospitalization or adolescent residential program. Patients were divided into two diagnostic groups: anorexia nervosa (AN = 287) and bulimia nervosa (BN = 214), as well as two age groups: adults (age ≥18; N = 318) and adolescents (age <18; N = 183).