title: Subclassifications in eating disorders and obesity: a comparative study of an Italian sample.
abstract: The purpose of this study is to examine differences between eating disorder subgroups, including obese patients, in a large Italian sample seen at a specialist clinic. All patients (n=263) who consecutively contacted the University Eating Disorder Outpatient Clinic of Padua were divided into subgroups according to the literature. Different subgroups were compared according to clinical features, SCL-90, EAT and TFEQ scores. The study confirms the importance of purging, which is associated with more severe psychiatric symptoms than bingeing; a direct correlation between severity of psychiatric symptoms and duration of eating disorder was found. Among obese patients the bingers are distinguished from the nonbingers by a higher degree of eating and psychological distress and a greater number of dieting attempts.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Psychiatry, University of Padua, Italy.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Favaro
authors.forename: M C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Olivotto
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zambenedetti
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Pavan
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Santonastaso
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D017668:Age of Onset; D000856:Anorexia Nervosa / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D015992:Body Mass Index; D002032:Bulimia / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009765:Obesity / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D012189:Retrospective Studies