Counting the COST: A European collaboration on the efficiency of psychotherapeutic treatment of patients with eating disorders

Abstract

In 1993, a European collaboration on the efficiency of psychotherapeutic treatment of patients with Eating Disorders was initiated. The European Union supported it under the name COST Action B6 from 1994-2001. This unique opportunity to co-ordinate research and to exchange clinical experience eventually attracted more than 200 researchers and clinicians from 19 European countries. This is the first paper of a series of five through which we report on the general background, the organizational structure, the objectives, the design, the main findings, and specific methodological developments of COST Action B6. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and Eating Disorders Association.