Quality of life and motivation to change in eating disorders. Perception patient-psychiatrist.

Purpose: To assess motivation to change (Mch) of patients with an eating disorder (ED) and its relationship with quality-of-life (QoL) by comparing patient and psychiatrist perceptions.

Method: Patients (n=358) with an ED completed the disease-specific Health-Related Quality of Life for Eating Disorders (HeRQoLED) questionnaire, the Eating Attitudes Test (EAT-26) and the Short-Form Health Survey (SF-12) at baseline; 273 completed them after 1 year of treatment. The relationship between health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and the Mch stage was assessed using analysis of variance. Chi-square and Kappa statistical analysis assessed congruence in motivational change perception of the patients and psychiatrists.

Results: Higher patient-reported Mch was associated with higher HRQoL at the study beginning and end but not using the patient Mch as perceived by the psychiatrist. Initially, the patient and psychiatrist perceptions of Mch differed (kappa coefficient, -0.01); after 1 year they tended to converge (k=0.34).

Conclusions: Higher Mch and higher QoL are positively associated. However, patient and psychiatrist perceptions of Mch and the relationship with QoL differ. After 1 year of treatment, these differences decreased.