Maintenance treatment and 6-month outcome for bulimic patients who respond to initial treatment

Bulimic subjects who responded to intensive group psychotherapy plus imipramine or placebo or to imipramine alone (N=68) were assigned to 4-month maintenance with weekly support groups and/or medication (placebo or imipramine) and were evaluated 6 months after initial treatment (N=61). Thirty percent of the subjects relapsed during the 6 months. Initial treatment with group psychotherapy plus placebo or imipramine was associated with a lower relapse rate than initial treatment with imipramine alone. Neither attendance at the maintenance group sessions nor imipramine maintenance was associated with better outcome.