Table 1.
Studies investigating NES in patients with eating disorder(s), obesity, and/or undergoing bariatric surgery.
| References | Sample attributes | Results: Demographic data | Outcomes (Measures) | Results: Outcomes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Cleator et al. (2013) | Population: Patients with severe obesity N = 144 (68% female) (mean age of M = 44.6, SD = 12.1; mean BMI of M = 46.9 kg/m2, SD = 9.5) Country: United Kingdom |
Prevalence: Individuals with NEQ scores ≥ 25, n = 20 (13.9%) Individuals with NEQ scores ≥ 30, n = 4 (2.8%) |
NES (NEQ) Sleep Quality (PSQI) OSA (ESS) |
Sleep Quality: Poor levels of sleep quality in patients with obesity Night eating is rare, but sleep quality highly negatively correlated with NEQ scores, even when controlling for ESS scores |
| 2. Cleator et al. (2014) | Population: Patients with severe obesity N = 81 (mean age of M = 44.6, SD = 11.6; mean BMI of M = 50.0 kg/m2, SD = 10.7) Country: United Kingdom |
Prevalence: Full-syndrome NES, n = 7; Partial NES, n = 24; NEB = Full-syndrome NES + Partial NES = 31; Non-NEB, n = 50 Age, gender, BMI: No significant difference Weight: NEB > non-NEB Employment: NEB patients less likely to be working |
NES (NESHI, NEQ) Depression (BDI-IA) |
Depression, anxiety: No significant difference between groups BDI-IA (greater depressed mood): NEB > non-NEB Sleep duration: No significant difference between groups; NEB group had greater within group sleep duration variability |
| 3. Dalle Grave et al. (2013) | Population: Patients with obesity N = 586 (100% female) (mean age of M = 47.7, SD = 9.8; mean BMI of M = 38.2 kg/m2, SD = 6.8) Controls: N = 185 (100% female) (mean age of M = 47.2, SD = 10.7; mean BMI of M = 22.8 kg/m2, SD = 1.7) Country: Italy |
Prevalence: NES (NEQ score ≥ 30): 18 (3.1%) participants with obesity, of which 17 had severe BED as well Age, BMI: No significant difference |
NES (NEQ) Binge Eating (BES) Personality characteristics (TCI) |
Higher scores on NEQ = Higher BMI BES scores: NES > non-NES TCI–Novelty seeking, Reward dependence, Persistence, Cooperativeness, Self-transcendence: No significant difference between NES and non-NES TCI–Harm avoidance: NES > non-NES TCI–Self-directedness: NES < non-NES |
| 4. Dorflinger et al. (2017) | Population: Veterans with obesity N = 126 (90% male) (mean age of M = 61.6, SD = 8.5; mean BMI of M = 38.0 kg/m2, SD = 7.4) Country: United States of America |
Prevalence: NES: 11% participants (83.3% screened positive for insomnia) Age, gender, BMI: No significant difference |
Insomnia (ISI) NES (NEQ) Depression (PHQ-2) Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PC-PTSD) ED Pathology (EDE-Q, EOQ, MOVE!23, QEWP-R) |
∙ Higher scores on NEQ = Higher BMI, Higher insomnia, Higher binge eating, Higher emotional eating, Higher eating disorder symptomology ∙ For veterans with NES: more likely to screen positive for depression and PTSD (when controlled for BMI) |
| 5. Ferreira Pinto et al. (2017) | Population: Bariatric Surgery N = 60 (85% female) (mean age of M = 34.7, SD = 9.2; mean BMI of M = 46.04 kg/m2, SD = 7.52) Country: Brazil |
NES patients before bariatric surgery vs. after surgery: 7 vs. 6 | NES (NEQ) Depression (BDI-SF) |
∙ Reduction in global NEQ scores observed after bariatric surgery (P = 0.05) ∙ Reduction in NES post-surgery was greater in patients with baseline depressive symptoms (P = 0.03) |
| 6. Ivezaj et al. (2021) | Population: Post-bariatric surgery N = 131 (84.7% female) (mean age of M = 45.5, SD = 10.9; mean BMI of M = 37.6 kg/m2, SD = 7.1) Country: United States of America |
Prevalence: NES: n = 17 (15.2%) exceeded the threshold for NES on NEQ; n = 10 (8.9%) exceeded the threshold for “strongly suggestive NES;” n = 7 (6.3%) exceeded the threshold for “suggestive NES” Age, BMI, BMI Change, Sex: No significant difference Race: Significantly greater night eating in non-white racial groups (67.9%) Total Weight Loss % (TWL%): Lower TWL% in regular night eaters |
NES (NEQ) ED Pathology (EDE-Bariatric Surgery Version) Depression (BDI-II) Sleep Quality (PSQI) |
Greater EDE over-evaluation, EDE dissatisfaction, BDI-II scores, PSQI scores, LoC eating frequency than subthreshold night eaters: NES, strongly suggestive NES, suggestive NES groups > group with no or little night eating behavior No significant differences for EDE restraint scores were observed |
| 7. Kara et al. (2020) | Population: Patients with obesity N = 421 (83% female) Class I Obesity Group: N = 150 (mean age of M = 49.49, SD = 12.49; mean BMI of M = 32.40 kg/m2, SD = 1.34) Class II Obesity Group: N = 150 (mean age of M = 48.43, SD = 11.81; mean BMI of M = 37.36 kg/m2, SD = 1.34) Class III Obesity Group: N = 150 (mean age of M = 49.05, SD = 11.40; mean BMI of M = 44.97 kg/m2, SD = 4.63) Country: Turkey |
Gender, Income level, Occupational status, Presence of children, Living-together subjects, Cigarette consumption: No significant difference between NES and non-NES obesity groups Age: NES Class II obesity < non-NES Class II obesity (only group with significant difference) |
NES (NEQ) | Duration of Obesity, Dieting, Weight loss, Number of main meals per day, Number of snacks per day: No significant difference between the three obesity groups and between the NES and non-NES groups for each obesity class |
| 8. Latzer et al. (2020a) | Population: Eating Disorder patients N = 68 (100% female) (mean BMI of M = 27.2 kg/m2, SD = 7) Night binging group (NES + BED or BN: N = 25 (44.4%) (mean age of M = 38.3, SD = 13.60; mean BMI of M = 29.50 kg/m2, SD = 6.7) BE (BED or BN): N = 34 (56.6%) (mean age of M = 25.7, SD = 5.8; mean BMI of M = 25.3 kg/m2, SD = 6.3) Country: Israel |
Age: NES-BE > BE only Education level, Occupation, Smoking: No significant difference between NES-BE and BE only |
Eating Pattern (Food Diary) Depression (BDI) |
Higher depression, Higher binging episodes, Higher weekly binging frequency, Higher calorie consumption, Higher average fat consumption per day: NES-BE > BE only Higher average carbohydrate consumption per day: BE only > NES-BE |
| 9. Latzer et al. (2020b) | Population: Eating Disorder patients N = 426 (100% female) (mean age of M = 35.56, SD = 12.91) Night binging group (NES + BED or BN: N = 74 (mean age of M = 40.70, SD = 1.54; mean BMI of M = 30.71 kg/m2, SD = 0.8) BED: N = 44 (mean age of M = 34.49, SD = 1.75; mean BMI of M = 32.62 kg/m2, SD = 1.0) BN: N = 40 (mean age of M = 27.05, SD = 1.25; mean BMI of M = 23.96 kg/m2, SD = 0.76) Country: Israel |
Age, BMI: BN < BED < NES-BE | Childhood Trauma (Childhood Trauma Questionnaire) Psychological state (BSI) Depression (BDI) Self-esteem (Rosenberg Self-esteem Scale) ED (EDI-2, SCOFF questionnaire) NES (NEQ) |
Psychopathology, Childhood Trauma (EDI-2, BSI, BDI, Rosenberg Self-esteem scale): No significant difference between groups after adjusting for age except physical neglect Physical Neglect: NES-BE > BN and BED |
| 10. Loddo et al. (2019) | Population: NES patients N = 20 (65% female) (mean age of M = 48, SD = 12; mean BMI of M = 30 kg/m2, SD = 9) Country: Italy |
Evening Hyperphagia (EH): N = 10 (mean age of M = 56, SD = 5; mean BMI of M = 37 kg/m2, SD = 8) Nocturnal Ingestion (NI): N = 10 (mean age of M = 39, SD = 11; mean BMI of M = 24 kg/m2, SD = 3) |
Sleep Quality and features (VPSG) | Sleep features (such as sleep time, sleep efficiency, sleep latency, sleep stage REM, REM latency): No significant difference between NI and EH subgroups Eating latency, Sleep latency after eating offset, Total eating episode duration: EH > NI subgroup |
| 11. McCune and Lundgren (2015) | Population: NES patients N = 15 (mean age of M = 42.2, SD = 15.03; mean BMI of M = 29.4 kg/m2, SD = 7.4) Country: United States of America |
Same as sample attributes | NES (NESS) Depression (BDI-II) Insomnia (ISI) |
Night eating symptoms, insomnia, depressive symptoms all significantly reduce after Bright Light Therapy |
| 12. Nasirzadeh et al. (2018) | Population: Bariatric surgery patients N = 844 (81.2% female) (mean age of M = 45; mean BMI of M = 48.6 kg/m2, SD = 7.8) Country: Canada |
Same as sample attributes | NES (NEQ) | •NEQ scores reduce after all types of bariatric surgeries •NEQ scores rise significantly 3 years post-operation |
| 13. Royal et al. (2015) | Population: Bariatric Surgery N = 226 (mean age of M = 43.8, SD = 10.9; mean BMI of M = 49.8 kg/m2, SD = 8.3) Country: United States of America |
Same as sample attributes | ED Psychopathology (EDE-Q) NES (NEQ) Depression (PHQ-9) Alcohol use (AUDIT) Health related Quality of Life (SF-36) |
Higher NEQ scores: Individuals with Loss of Control eating > individuals without Loss of Control eating NES criteria met on NEQ: Individuals with Loss of Control eating and individuals without Loss of Control eating did not meet criteria |
| 14. Tu et al. (2019) | Population: Eating Disorder Patients N = 167 AN: N = 29 (mean age of M = 24.6, SD = 7.9; mean BMI of M = 15.4 kg/m2, SD = 2.5) BN: N = 63 (mean age of M = 27.0, SD = 7.0; mean BMI of M = 21.6 kg/m2, SD = 3.1) BED: N = 29 (mean age of M = 33.7, SD = 8.4; mean BMI of M = 28.4 kg/m2, SD = 5.4) Country: Taiwan |
Prevalence: NES only, n = 15 (mean age of M = 27.7, SD = 8.0; mean BMI of M = 23.0 kg/m2, SD = 7.1) NES in patients with AN, n = 3 (10.3%) NES in patients with BN, n = 22 (34.9%) NES in patients with BED, n = 15 (51.7%) |
NES (NESHI, NEQ, MES) ED (EDE-Q) Depression (BDI) Sleep Quality (PQSI) |
∙ All NES-only patients suffered from EH ∙ 53.3% had more than two occurrences of nocturnal eating/week with a mean of M = 4.1, SD = 4.9 occurrences ∙ Scores on NEQ, EDE-Q, BDI, PQSI: NES only > Control |
| 15. Uncu et al. (2020) | Population: Obesity patients N = 177 Obese group: N = 90 (mean age of M = 33.4, SD = 6.7; mean BMI of M = 43.9 kg/m2, SD = 4.1) Non-obese group: N = 87 (mean age of M = 34.8, SD = 9.0; mean BMI of M = 25.9 kg/m2, SD = 3.1) Country: Turkey |
Same as sample attributes | NES (NEQ) Impulsivity (BIS) |
∙ NES was more frequent in the obese group with higher scores on NEQ (p < 0.001) ∙ NEQ and BIS correlated significantly in the positive direction (p < 0.005) |
| 16. Vander Wal et al. (2015) | Population: NES patients N = 44 (70% female) (mean age of M = 46.07, SD = 12.67; mean BMI of M = 31.31 kg/m2, SD = 5.90) Country: United States of America |
Same as sample attributes | NES (NEDQ, NEQ) Depression (BDI-II) Anxiety (BAI) Stress (PSS) Sleep (Sleep diary, accelerometer) |
∙ Post-treatment reduction in NES, depression, anxiety, and stress in all three intervention groups (i.e., psychoeducation, practicing progressive muscle relaxation (PMR) therapy, and exercising while practicing PMR) ∙ Greatest reduction in food eaten after evening meal in the PMR group (−30.54%), being significantly different from the education group |
| 17. Vinai et al. (2015a) | Population: NES patients N = 54 Night eaters: N = 24 (mean age of M = 44.30, SD = 10.90; mean BMI of M = 26.30 kg/m2, SD = 3.88) Controls: N = 30 (mean age of M = 45.80, SD = 11.27; mean BMI of M = 23.10 kg/m2, SD = 3.63) Country: Italy |
NES patients have a higher BMI (p = 0.003) | ED psychopathology (EDI-2) BN (BITE) Personality (TCI) Impulsivity (BIS) Sleep features (VPSG) |
EDI-2 (drive for thinness, interceptive awareness, impulse regulation): NES > controls BITE (symptom score only): NES > controls TCI (harm avoidance): NES > controls |
| 18. Vinai et al. (2015b) | Population: NES patients and insomniacs N = 153 (66% female) NES: N = 34 (mean age of M = 55, SD = 15.4; mean BMI of M = 29.4 kg/m2, SD = 4.9) Insomniacs: N = 47 (mean age of M = 57.2, SD = 10.0; mean BMI of M = 27.1 kg/m2, SD = 4.2) Controls: N = 72 (mean age of M = 50.5, SD = 17.7; mean BMI of M = 24.4 kg/m2, SD = 3.3) Country: Italy |
Age, sex: No significant differences between groups | Alexithymia (TAS) NES (NEQ) |
TAS total score: NES < Insomniacs EOT scale of TAS: NES < Comparison < Insomniacs |
| 19. Zengin-Eroglu et al. (2018) | Population: Bariatric Surgery Participants N = 108 (80.6% female) (mean age of M = 37.50, SD = 9.10; mean BMI of men M = 45.77 kg/m2, SD = 6.16; mean BMI of women M = 45.45 kg/m2, SD = 4.70) Country: Turkey |
Prevalence: BED, n = 12 (11.1%), NES, n = 6 (5.6%) Both BED and NES, n = 7 (6.5%) BMI, Education: did not differ across groups |
Depression (BDI) Eating behavior (EAT) |
No data for NES patients specifically |
NES, Night Eating Syndrome; BED, Binge Eating Disorder; ED, Eating Disorder; BN, Bulimia Nervosa; BE, Binge Eating; AN, Anorexia Nervosa; BMI, Body mass index; EDE-Q, Eating Disorder Examination-Questionnaire; NEB, Night Eating Behavior; NESHI, Night Eating Symptom and History Inventory; NEQ, Night Eating Questionnaire; BDI-IA, Beck Depression Inventory; BES, Binge Eating Scale; TCI, Temperament and Character Inventory; ISI, Insomnia Severity Index; PHQ, Patient Health Questionnaire; PC-PTSD, Primary Care PTSD Screen; EOQ, Emotional Overeating Questionnaire; QEWP-R, Questionnaire for Eating and Weight Patterns; BDI-SF, Beck Depression Inventory-Short Form; BSI, Brief Symptom Inventory; VPSG, Video-polysomnography; TAS, Toronto Alexithymia Scale; EOT, Externally-Oriented Thinking subscale; AUDIT, Alcohol use disorder identification test; SF-36, Short Form (36) Health Questionnaire; MES, Morningness/Eveningness Scale; PQSI, Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index; BIS, Barratt's Impulsiveness Scale; NEDQ, Night Eating Diagnostic Questionnaire; BAI, Beck Anxiety Inventory; PSS, Perceived Stress Scale; EDI, Eating Disorder Inventory; BITE, Bulimic Investigatory Test-Edinburgh; EAT, Eating Attitudes Test; NESS, Night Eating Symptom Scale; OSA, Obstructive Sleep Apnoea; ESS, Epworth Sleepiness Score.