Abstract
Six hundred and twenty women who were currently practising self-induced vomiting to control their weight were identified with the help of a women's magazine. Nineteen women (3.1%) fulfilled diagnostic criteria for anorexia nervosa. Of the remainder, 499 (83.0%) fulfilled diagnostic criteria for bulimia nervosa, a recently described eating disorder. Of these, 56.1% practised self-induced vomiting at least once daily; the mean duration of vomiting was 4.5 years. Most women were of normal body weight. On standardised measures, 68.1% of women showed pronounced psychiatric morbidity and 89% had profoundly disturbed attitudes to food and eating. 56.4% thought they definitely needed medical help, though only 30.1% had ever discussed any aspect of their eating difficulties with a doctor. This study highlights the secrecy that surrounds bulimia nervosa and suggests that it is an important undetected source of psychiatric morbidity.
Full text
PDF
Selected References
These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.
- Beumont P. J., George G. C., Smart D. E. "Dieters" and "vomiters and purgers" in anorexia nervosa. Psychol Med. 1976 Nov;6(4):617–622. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Casper R. C., Eckert E. D., Halmi K. A., Goldberg S. C., Davis J. M. Bulimia. Its incidence and clinical importance in patients with anorexia nervosa. Arch Gen Psychiatry. 1980 Sep;37(9):1030–1035. doi: 10.1001/archpsyc.1980.01780220068007. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Fairburn C. G. Self-induced vomiting. J Psychosom Res. 1980;24(3-4):193–197. doi: 10.1016/0022-3999(80)90041-0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Fairburn C. A cognitive behavioural approach to the treatment of bulimia. Psychol Med. 1981 Nov;11(4):707–711. doi: 10.1017/s0033291700041209. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Garfinkel P. E., Moldofsky H., Garner D. M. The heterogeneity of anorexia nervosa. Bulimia as a distinct subgroup. Arch Gen Psychiatry. 1980 Sep;37(9):1036–1040. doi: 10.1001/archpsyc.1980.01780220074008. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 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]
- 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]
- Halmi K. A., Falk J. R., Schwartz E. Binge-eating and vomiting: a survey of a college population. Psychol Med. 1981 Nov;11(4):697–706. doi: 10.1017/s0033291700041192. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Pyle R. L., Mitchell J. E., Eckert E. D. Bulimia: a report of 34 cases. J Clin Psychiatry. 1981 Feb;42(2):60–64. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 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]