Prevalence of eating disorders in a Spanish school-age population.
OBJECTIVE
To determine the prevalence of eating disorders (anorexia nervosa, bulimia, and partial syndromes) in students in a Madrid school district during the 1993-1994 academic period. The results were compared with those of an earlier study performed in 1985-1986 and with findings in other countries.


METHODS
In the first phase, 1314 adolescents (731 girls and 583 boys) with a mean age of 15.05 +/- 0.98 years were surveyed according to the Eating Disorder Inventory (EDI) and a psychosocial data survey. Of these, 1281 (97.48%) [724 girls (99.04%) and 557 boys (95.54%)] were considered appropriate for the study. The risk population included individuals with a total EDI score over 50, plus a drive for thinness (DT) score over 10; 180 girls (24.86%) and 19 boys (3.41%) were identified on this basis. To reduce possible false negatives, those whose score on the bulimia scale was over 5, with amenorrhea of more than 3 months duration and a body mass index (weight in kilograms per height in square meters) under 18 were also considered to be at risk. The total risk population thus defined consisted of 293 adolescents (22.87%): 67 boys (12.02%) and 226 girls (31.21%). In the second phase, all risk subjects were reevaluated with a semistructured interview for ED, and they were also weighed and measured. In all, 156 adolescents (53.24%)[103 girls (45.57%) and 53 boys (79.10%)] participated in person. The remaining 137 subjects completed the interview by telephone. Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM)-III-R diagnostic criteria were applied.


RESULTS
Five girls (0.69% of the total study population) fulfilled the DSM-III-R criteria for anorexia nervosa, and nine (1.24%), for bulimia nervosa. Two boys (0.36%) had bulimia. Twenty girls (2.76%) and three boys (0.54%) represented partial syndromes. The results of adding the full and partial syndromes showed that 4.7% of the girls and 0.9% of the boys had eating disorders.


CONCLUSIONS
This study demonstrates an increase in the prevalence of eating disorders in Madrid, reaching similar levels to those reported in the literature for other developed countries.
Morandé
G
G
Hospital del Niño Jesús, Servicio de Psiquiatría, Madrid, Spain.
Celada
J
J
Casas
J J
JJ
D000293:Adolescent; D000568:Amenorrhea / Q000453:epidemiology; D000886:Anthropometry; D001828:Body Image; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D001068:Feeding and Eating Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D015995:Prevalence; D013030:Spain / Q000453:epidemiology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires