Table 1.
Item numbers, corresponding interview questions, and scoring
| Item no. | Interview question | Possible response (frequency) |
|---|---|---|
| 1a | Have you ever had eating binges when you ate what most people would describe as an unusually large amount of food in a short time? | (0) No (817) (1) Yes (207) |
| 2 | When you were having eating binges, did you feel that your eating was out of control? | (0) Not at all (33) (1) Slightly (26) (2) Somewhat (65) (3) Very much (61) (4) Extremely (44) |
| 3 | When you were bingeing the most, how many binges would you have in a month? | (0) 0–1 (44) (1) 2–7 (99) (2) ≥8 (64) |
| 4 | For how long did you have binge eating episodes? | (0) Less than 1 month (62) (1) 1 to 2 months (19) (2) 3 months to 5 months (14) (3) 6 months to 1 year (40) (4) longer than 1 year (68) |
| Items 5–11 began with the stem: ‘During your most extreme efforts to control your shape and weight, how often did you do the following:’ | ||
| 5 | Make yourself vomit | (0) Never (918) (1) Once (27) (2) Less than once per week (12) (3) Once per week (7) (4) A few days per week (14) (5) Nearly every day (7) (6) Every day (10) |
| 6 | Laxatives | (0) Never (862) (1) Once (41) (2) Less than once per week (41) (3) Once per week (14) (4) A few days per week (19) (5) Nearly every day (11) (6) Every day (5) |
| 7 | Diuretics (water pills) | (0) Never (853) (1) Once (48) (2) Less than once per week (43) (3) Once per week (11) (4) A few days per week (17) (5) Nearly every day (12) (6) Every day (9) |
| 8 | Diet pills (over the counter or prescription) | (0) Never (580) (1) Once (146) (2) Less than once per week (44) (3) Once per week (21) (4) A few days per week (69) (5) Nearly every day (60) (6) Every day (72) |
| 9 | Exercise more than 2 h per day | (0) Never (760) (1) Once (23) (2) Less than once per week (56) (3) Once per week (31) (4) A few days per week (73) (5) Nearly every day (33) (6) Every day (15) |
| 10 | Fast or not eat (for 24 h or more) | (0) Never (811) (1) Once (67) (2) Less than once per week (47) (3) Once per week (22) (4) A few days per week (27) (5) Nearly every day (7) (6) Every day (4) |
| 11 | Choose one of the following statements that best describes youb | (0) Weight or shape is not at all important to how I feel about myself (29) (1) Weight or shape plays a small part in how I feel about myself (167) (2) Weight or shape plays a moderate part in how I feel about myself (425) (3) Weight or shape plays a major part in how I feel about myself (335) (4) Weight or shape is the most important thing that affects how I feel about myself (56) |
a
If participants indicated that they had never binged, they skipped to the next section of the questionnaire.
b
This is a general question and is not specific to any time period.