Comparative prevalence, correlates of impairment, and service utilization for eating disorders across US ethnic groups: Implications for reducing ethnic disparities in health care access for eating disorders.
OBJECTIVE
The study compared the prevalence, correlates of functional impairment, and service utilization for eating disorders across Latinos, Asians, and African Americans living in the United States to non-Latino Whites.


METHODS
Pooled data from the NIMH Collaborative Psychiatric Epidemiological Studies (CPES;NIMH, 2007) were used.


RESULTS
The prevalence of anorexia nervosa (AN) and binge-eating disorder (BED) were similar across all groups examined, but bulimia nervosa (BN) was more prevalent among Latinos and African Americans than non-Latino Whites. Despite similar prevalence of BED among ethnic groups examined, lifetime prevalence of any binge eating (ABE) was greater among each of the ethnic minority groups in comparison to non-Latino Whites. Lifetime prevalence of mental health service utilization was lower among ethnic minority groups studied than for non-Latino Whites for respondents with a lifetime history of any eating disorder.


CONCLUSIONS
These findings suggest the need for clinician training and health policy interventions to achieve optimal and equitable care for eating disorders across all ethnic groups in the United States.
Marques
Luana
L
Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, USA. lmarques@partners.org
Alegria
Margarita
M
Becker
Anne E
AE
Chen
Chih-Nan
CN
Fang
Angela
A
Chosak
Anne
A
Diniz
Juliana Belo
JB
D000328:Adult; D001741:Black or African American / Q000523:psychology; D003695:Delivery of Health Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D001068:Feeding and Eating Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005260:Female; D019538:Health Care Surveys; D006297:Health Services Accessibility; D054625:Healthcare Disparities; D006630:Hispanic or Latino / Q000523:psychology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008605:Mental Health Services / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D015995:Prevalence; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D044465:White People / Q000523:psychology