The health-related quality of life in eating disorders.
OBJECTIVE
This study investigated the perception of health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in ambulatory patients with eating disorders in relation to the severity of eating symptomatology and psychological comorbidity.


METHODS
One hundred ninety-seven study patients were consecutively recruited at the Eating Disorders Outpatient Clinic. Short Form-36 items (SF-36), a generic HRQoL questionnaire, the Eating Attitudes Test (EAT-40), and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HAD) were used to measure different aspects of HRQoL. The results of the SF-36 were compared with the norms of the Spanish general population for women 18-34 years of age.


RESULTS
Patients with eating disorders were more dysfunctional in all areas of the SF-36 compared with women in the general population. There were no differences among the eating disorder diagnostic groups. Higher scores on the EAT-40 and the HAD were associated with a perception of greater impairment on all SF-36 subscales.


CONCLUSIONS
The evaluation of HRQoL in these patients confirms the impact of these disorders on daily life in areas not directly related to eating disorders. The SF-36 is useful for discriminating among different levels of severity of eating disorders and other psychological comorbidities of these patients.
Padierna
A
A
Psychiatric Service, Galdakao Hospital, Bizkaia, Spain.
Quintana
J M
JM
Arostegui
I
I
Gonzalez
N
N
Horcajo
M J
MJ
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D001068:Feeding and Eating Disorders / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006305:Health Status Indicators; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011788:Quality of Life; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires