Mellentin AI, Mejldal A, Guala MM, et al. - This study suggests an additive effect of substance use disorders (SUDs) on excess mortality in anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, and unspecified eating disorder. Hence it is imperative to implement prevention and treatment strategies for SUDs to reduce mortality in this patient group.

• Using Danish nationwide registers, 20,759 patients with eating disorders and 83,036 matched control individuals were included.

• Relative to control individuals without SUDs, patients with each type of eating disorder are at a higher risk of all-cause mortality among those who abused alcohol and/or cannabis, or hard drugs alone or in combination with alcohol and/or cannabis, than in those without SUDs.

• Further, there was an elevated risk of all-cause mortality in control individuals with vs without SUDs, although to a much lesser extent than eating disorder patients with SUDs.