Association of Bulimia Nervosa With Long-term Risk of Cardiovascular Disease and Mortality Among Women

Importance: Bulimia nervosa is associated with short-term cardiovascular complications in women, but its long-term consequences on cardiovascular health are unknown. Objective: To study the association of bulimia nervosa with the long-term risk of cardiovascular disease and mortality in women. Design, Setting, and Participants: In this longitudinal cohort study, 416 709 women hospitalized in Quebec, Canada, including women hospitalized for bulimia nervosa and those for pregnancy-related events as a comparison group, were followed up for 12 years from 2006 to 2018 to identify incidences of cardiovascular disease and death. Exposures: At least 1 hospitalization for bulimia nervosa. Main Outcomes and Measures: The study participants were followed up to identify future incidences of cardiovascular disease and deaths. Cox proportional hazards regression was used to estimate hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% CIs to assess the association of bulimia nervosa with future outcomes after adjustment for patient characteristics. Results: The study population comprised 818 women who were hospitalized for bulimia nervosa (mean [SD] age, 28.3 [13.4] years) and 415 891 hospitalized for pregnancy-related events (mean [SD] age, 28.3 [5.4] years). Patients were followed up for a total of 2 957 677 person-years. The women hospitalized for bulimia nervosa had a greater incidence of cardiovascular disease compared with those hospitalized for pregnancy-related events (10.34 [95% CI, 7.77-13.76] vs 1.02 [95% CI, 0.99-1.06] per 1000 person-years). Incidence of future cardiovascular disease was even higher for women with 3 or more bulimia admissions (25.13 [95% CI, 13.52-46.70] per 1000 person-years). Women hospitalized for bulimia nervosa had 4.25 (95% CI, 2.98-6.07) times the risk of any cardiovascular disease and 4.72 (95% CI, 2.05-10.84) times the risk of death compared with women hospitalized for pregnancy-related events. Bulimia nervosa was found to be associated with ischemic heart disease (HR, 6.63; 95% CI, 3.34-13.13), atherosclerosis (HR, 6.94; 95% CI, 3.08-15.66), and cardiac conduction defects (HR, 2.99; 95% CI, 1.57-5.71). Bulimia was also associated with 21.93 (95% CI, 9.29-51.74) times the risk of myocardial infarction at 2 years of follow-up and 14.13 (95% CI, 6.02-33.18) times the risk at 5 years of follow-up. Conclusions and Relevance: This study's findings suggest that bulimia nervosa may be associated with the long-term risk of any cardiovascular disease, such as ischemic cardiac events and conduction disorders, as well as with death among women. The findings also suggest that women with a history of bulimia nervosa should be screened regularly for ischemic cardiovascular disease and may benefit from prevention of and treatment for cardiovascular risk factors.