title: The assessment of binge eating disorder in obese women: a comparison of the binge eating scale with the structured clinical interview for the DSM-IV.
abstract: The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the clinical usefulness of the Portuguese version of the Binge Eating Scale (BES) to assess binge eating disorder (BED) in a clinical sample. The BES is a self-reported instrument developed to identify binge eaters within the obese population. The scale, at the cutoff point of 17, was compared with the Structured Clinical Interview for the DSM-IV-Patient version (SCID-I/P). It was administered to 178 obese Brazilian women, aged 18 to 60 years, seeking treatment for obesity at an outpatient clinic. To assess the test-retest reliability, 121 individuals filled the instrument again 15 days later. The Portuguese version of BES showed a sensitivity of 97.8%, a specificity of 47.7%, a positive predictive value of 66.7% and a negative predictive value of 95.3%. The test-retest reliability, measured by kappa statistics, was 0.66. Cronbach's alpha was 0.89. These results suggest that the BES is valid as a screening instrument for BED in obese Brazilian women seeking treatment for obesity.
authors.affiliation: State Institute of Diabetes and Endocrinology, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil. silvafreitas@uol.com.br
authors.forename: Silvia R
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Freitas
authors.forename: Claudia S
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Lopes
authors.forename: José C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Appolinario
authors.forename: Walmir
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Coutinho
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D015992:Body Mass Index; D001938:Brazil; D052018:Bulimia Nervosa / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D015897:Comorbidity; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D039721:Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders; D006801:Humans; D007406:Interview, Psychological; D008297:Male; D008432:Mathematical Computing; D008875:Middle Aged; D009765:Obesity / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology*; D010555:Personality Inventory / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011594:Psychometrics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D015203:Reproducibility of Results