General practice consultation patterns preceding diagnosis of eating disorders.
OBJECTIVE
To see whether patients with eating disorders consult general practitioners more frequently than control subjects and, if so, to describe the pattern of consultation.


METHODS
General practitioner case record review of patients with anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, and partial syndromes referred to a specialist eating disorder service.


RESULTS
Seventy-eight of 100 case records were available for analysis. Eating disorder patients consulted significantly more frequently than controls over 5 years prior to the diagnosis of the eating disorder. They presented to the general practitioners with a variety of symptoms including psychological, gastrointestinal, and gynecological complaints.


CONCLUSIONS
The findings suggest that methods could be developed to enable earlier diagnosis of eating disorders in general practice. This will enable the earlier application of effective treatments with the prospect of improved outcome.
Ogg
E C
EC
Department of Psychiatry, Larkfield Resource Centre, Lenzie, Glasgow.
Millar
H R
HR
Pusztai
E E
EE
Thom
A S
AS
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000856:Anorexia Nervosa / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology; D002032:Bulimia / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D005194:Family Practice / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D001068:Feeding and Eating Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D010348:Patient Care Team / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012017:Referral and Consultation / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012606:Scotland / Q000453:epidemiology; D013001:Somatoform Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology; D016896:Treatment Outcome