Abstract
We conducted a prospective exploration of the temporal course of eating disorder (ED) symptoms in two cohorts of community women. One hundred and twenty-two young women (Cohort 1) identified in a general population based survey with ED symptoms of clinical severity agreed to participate in a 5-year follow-up study. A comparative sample (Cohort 2) of 706 similar aged self-selected college women (221 with disordered eating) was recruited one year later. Both ED groups were given a health literacy package in the first year. ED symptoms, health related quality of life, and psychological distress were assessed annually with the Eating Disorder Examination Questionnaire, the Short Form—12 Health Survey and the Kessler Psychological Distress Scale, respectively. Forty percent (Cohort 1) and 30.3% (Cohort 2) completed questionnaires at each year of follow-up. In both groups, there was early improvement in ED symptoms which plateaued after the first year, and participants retained high EDE-Q scores at 5 years. BMI increased as expected. Mental health related quality of life scores did not change but there were small improvements in psychological distress scores. The findings suggest little likelihood of spontaneous remission of ED problems in community women.
Highlights
Eating disorders are a common mental health problem [1] and a growing problem worldwide in developed and developing countries such as Australia [2] and India [3]
Each cohort had moderate to high levels of eating disorder symptoms, psychological distress and impaired mental health related quality of life
The participants in the present study predominately had a problem with recurrent episodes of binge eating, either subjectively or objectively large, where they described their eating as beyond their control with or without dietary restriction
Summary
Eating disorders are a common mental health problem [1] and a growing problem worldwide in developed and developing countries such as Australia [2] and India [3]. As well as being common, eating disorders are serious mental health problems with important medical co-morbidities. Features include behaviours, such as restrictive dieting, vomiting and compulsive exercise, that aim to address extreme concerns about body shape and weight. Such body image concerns dominate the person’s self-view and are a core preoccupation. Current diagnostic schemes define three Eating Disorders: anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa [5,6] and Eating Disorders not Otherwise Specified (EDNOS) [5] or atypical anorexia nervosa or bulimia nervosa [6] The former are well-defined Eating Disorders, but are much less prevalent than
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