Secret patterns: validation of a screening tool to detect bulimia.
We prospectively validated a two-item screening tool for bulimia. Subjects recruited from a women's health practice completed the previously developed two-item screening tool ("Do you ever eat in secret?" and "Are you satisfied with your eating patterns?") at their initial office visit. This was validated against a telephone interview with a licensed psychologist. The prevalence of current bulimia was 16% in 75 subjects, determined by psychologists' assessment (sensitivity 75%, specificity 49%) and 4% by DSM-III-R criteria. The positive and negative predictive values of one screening question positive were 22% and 91%, respectively, when compared with the psychologists' assessments as the gold standard. This screening tool allows physicians to identify patients who warrant further valuation for bulimia.
Freund
K M
KM
Department of Medicine, Boston Medical Center, Massachusetts 02118-2334, USA.
Boss
R D
RD
Handleman
E K
EK
Smith
A D
AD
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002032:Bulimia / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008403:Mass Screening; D008404:Massachusetts / Q000453:epidemiology; D011320:Primary Health Care; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires