Die Prävalenz von Essstörungen unter den Patientinnen einer Frauenarztpraxis

Abstract

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of eating disorders in patients of a primary care gynaecologist. Material and Methods: A number of 500 patients was asked to complete a self-rating scale for bulimia known as the Bulimic InvestigatoryTest Edinburgh (BITE). The questionnaire consisted of 33 questions to investigate habits of dieting and symptoms and behaviour associated with binge eating. Subjects were scored and classified according to their score. Subjects with a BITE score above 20 were considered to be at high risk of bulimia, a score of 10-19 indicated a subclinical eating disorder and a score less than 10 was indicative of a normal eating pattern. The diagnoses of anorexia nervosa (AN), bulimia nervosa (BN) and binge-eating disorder (BED) were simulated according to DSM-IV criteria. Results: We received a total of 486 questionnaires. In 5 women we diagnosed AN (1.02%), 9 patients fulfilled the DSM-IV criteria of BN (1.85%) and 17 cases of BED (3.49%) were identified. The difference between actual body weight and optional body weight (p-value < 0.01) and the degree of feeling overweight (p-value <0.01) correlated significantly with the BITE symptom scale. Despite regularly attending their gynaecologist, only 5 of 13 patients (38%) with BITE scores above 20 had ever consulted a physician for advice on eating problems. Conclusion: The high prevalence of AN, BN and BED in our sample of gynaecologic patients suggests that primary care gynaecologists should focus on the detection and prevention of eating disorders.