Skip to main content
PMC home page
The British Journal of General Practice logoLink to The British Journal of General Practice
. 1992 Feb;42(355):57–60.

Prevalence of eating disorders in three Cambridge general practices: hidden and conspicuous morbidity.

A M Whitehouse 1, P J Cooper 1, C V Vize 1, C Hill 1, L Vogel 1
PMCID: PMC1371924  PMID: 1493006

Abstract

The aims of this study were to investigate the prevalence of anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa and partial syndromes in women general practice attenders to establish the relative proportions of 'conspicuous' and 'hidden' morbidity. A consecutive series of 540 women patients aged 16-35 years attending their family doctor were screened using a specially devised questionnaire, the weight and dietary practices survey. A total of 115 patients were selected for further assessment and of these 101 patients were interviewed using a standardized diagnostic interview for DSM III-R eating disorders. The prevalence of anorexia nervosa was 0.2% (one case), of bulimia nervosa 1.5% (eight cases) and of partial syndrome bulimia nervosa 5.4% (29 cases). Half of the cases of bulimia nervosa had not been identified by the general practitioner and two of these patients had been referred to specialists for treatment of secondary complications of the eating disorder. Hidden cases of bulimia nervosa or partial syndromes are relatively common in general practice. Certain key questions could be used by general practitioners in order to identify women with eating disorders.

Full text

PDF
57

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. BECK A. T., WARD C. H., MENDELSON M., MOCK J., ERBAUGH J. An inventory for measuring depression. Arch Gen Psychiatry. 1961 Jun;4:561–571. doi: 10.1001/archpsyc.1961.01710120031004. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Button E. J., Whitehouse A. Subclinical anorexia nervosa. Psychol Med. 1981 Aug;11(3):509–516. doi: 10.1017/s003329170005282x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Cooper P. J., Charnock D. J., Taylor M. J. The prevalence of bulimia nervosa. A replication study. Br J Psychiatry. 1987 Nov;151:684–686. doi: 10.1192/bjp.151.5.684. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Cooper P. J., Fairburn C. G. Binge-eating and self-induced vomiting in the community. A preliminary study. Br J Psychiatry. 1983 Feb;142:139–144. doi: 10.1192/bjp.142.2.139. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Cooper P. J., Fairburn C. G. The depressive symptoms of bulimia nervosa. Br J Psychiatry. 1986 Mar;148:268–274. doi: 10.1192/bjp.148.3.268. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Cooper P. J., Waterman G. C., Fairburn C. G. Women with eating problems: a community survey. Br J Clin Psychol. 1984 Feb;23(Pt 1):45–52. doi: 10.1111/j.2044-8260.1984.tb00625.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Cooper Z., Cooper P. J., Fairburn C. G. The validity of the eating disorder examination and its subscales. Br J Psychiatry. 1989 Jun;154:807–812. doi: 10.1192/bjp.154.6.807. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Crisp A. H., Palmer R. L., Kalucy R. S. How common is anorexia nervosa? A prevalence study. Br J Psychiatry. 1976 Jun;128:549–554. doi: 10.1192/bjp.128.6.549. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Fairburn C. G., Cooper P. J. The clinical features of bulimia nervosa. Br J Psychiatry. 1984 Mar;144:238–246. doi: 10.1192/bjp.144.3.238. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Garner D. M., Garfinkel P. E. The Eating Attitudes Test: an index of the symptoms of anorexia nervosa. Psychol Med. 1979 May;9(2):273–279. doi: 10.1017/s0033291700030762. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Goldberg D. P., Blackwell B. Psychiatric illness in general practice. A detailed study using a new method of case identification. Br Med J. 1970 May 23;1(5707):439–443. doi: 10.1136/bmj.2.5707.439. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Goldberg D. P., Hillier V. F. A scaled version of the General Health Questionnaire. Psychol Med. 1979 Feb;9(1):139–145. doi: 10.1017/s0033291700021644. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Johnson-Sabine E., Wood K., Patton G., Mann A., Wakeling A. Abnormal eating attitudes in London schoolgirls--a prospective epidemiological study: factors associated with abnormal response on screening questionnaires. Psychol Med. 1988 Aug;18(3):615–622. doi: 10.1017/s0033291700008291. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. King M. B. Eating disorders in a general practice population. Prevalence, characteristics and follow-up at 12 to 18 months. Psychol Med Monogr Suppl. 1989;14:1–34. doi: 10.1017/s0264180100000515. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. King M. B. Eating disorders in general practice. Br Med J (Clin Res Ed) 1986 Nov 29;293(6559):1412–1414. doi: 10.1136/bmj.293.6559.1412. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Kutcher S. P., Whitehouse A. M., Freeman C. P. "Hidden" eating disorders in Scottish psychiatric inpatients. Am J Psychiatry. 1985 Dec;142(12):1475–1478. doi: 10.1176/ajp.142.12.1475. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Mann A. H., Wakeling A., Wood K., Monck E., Dobbs R., Szmukler G. Screening for abnormal eating attitudes and psychiatric morbidity in an unselected population of 15-year-old schoolgirls. Psychol Med. 1983 Aug;13(3):573–580. doi: 10.1017/s0033291700047991. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Nylander I. The feeling of being fat and dieting in a school population. An epidemiologic interview investigation. Acta Sociomed Scand. 1971;3(1):17–26. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Russell G. Bulimia nervosa: an ominous variant of anorexia nervosa. Psychol Med. 1979 Aug;9(3):429–448. doi: 10.1017/s0033291700031974. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  20. Schotte D. E., Stunkard A. J. Bulimia vs bulimic behaviors on a college campus. JAMA. 1987 Sep 4;258(9):1213–1215. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  21. Zinkand H., Cadoret R. J., Widmer R. B. Incidence and detection of bulimia in a family practice population. J Fam Pract. 1984 Apr;18(4):555–560. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from The British Journal of General Practice are provided here courtesy of Royal College of General Practitioners

RESOURCES