Healthcare utilization among women with eating disordered behavior.
This study was designed to explore relationship between self-reported eating disordered behavior (without formally established eating disorder diagnoses) and healthcare utilization among women in a primary care setting. Through a self-report questionnaire, 150 participants between the ages of 17 and 49 were asked if they had ever vomited, starved themselves, or abused laxatives in a manner that was intentional and self-harming (i.e., eating disordered behavior identified as pathologic by the participant). Participants who reported a history of disordered eating (n = 17) exhibited higher scores on two of five measures of healthcare utilization (mean number of telephone contacts and mean number of specialist referrals) compared with participants without eating disorders (n = 133). These data suggest that eating disordered behavior may be a predictor of increased healthcare utilization among women in primary care settings.
Sansone
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Wiederman
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Sansone
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D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D003710:Demography; D001068:Feeding and Eating Disorders / Q000191:economics / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D011320:Primary Health Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012647:Self-Assessment; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014481:United States