Eating disorder not otherwise specified in an inpatient unit: the impact of altering the DSM-IV criteria for anorexia and bulimia nervosa.
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate (1) the Eating Disorder Not Otherwise Specified (EDNOS) prevalence in an eating disorder inpatient unit; (2) the impact of altering the diagnostic criteria for anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa on the prevalence of EDNOS.


METHODS
One hundred and eighty six eating disorder patients consecutively hospitalised were included in the study. The prevalence of anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa and EDNOS was evaluated with the Eating Disorder Examination (EDE). The EDNOS prevalence was recalculated after the alteration of three diagnostic criteria for anorexia nervosa and one for bulimia nervosa.


RESULTS
Seventy eight patients (41.9%) met the diagnostic criteria for anorexia nervosa, 33 (17.8%) for bulimia nervosa and 75 (40.3%) for EDNOS. The alteration of the DSM-IV diagnostic criteria reduced the prevalence of EDNOS to 28 cases (15%).


CONCLUSIONS
EDNOS is a very frequent diagnostic category in an inpatient setting. Altering the diagnostic criteria for anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa reduced significantly the prevalence of EDNOS.
Dalle Grave
Riccardo
R
Department of Eating and Weight Disorder, Villa Garda Hospital, Garda (VR), Italy. rdalleg@tin.it
Calugi
Simona
S
D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D000856:Anorexia Nervosa / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology; D052018:Bulimia Nervosa / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D039721:Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders; D001068:Feeding and Eating Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007297:Inpatients / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D007558:Italy / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D015995:Prevalence