title: Health-service use in women with binge eating disorders.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To compare health-care utilization between participants who met DSM-IV criteria for binge eating disorder (BED) and those engaged in recurrent binge eating (RBE) and to evaluate whether objective binge eating (OBE) days, a key measurement for diagnosing BED, predicted health-care costs.
  
  
  METHODS
  We obtained utilization and cost data from electronic medical records to augment patient reported data for 100 adult female members of a large health maintenance organization who were enrolled in a randomized clinical trial to treat binge eating.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Total costs did not differ between the BED and RBE groups (β = -0.117, z = -0.48, p = .629), nor did the number of OBE days predict total costs (β = -0.017, z = -1.01, p = .313).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Findings suggest that the medical impairment, as assessed through health care costs, caused by BED may not be greater than impairment caused by RBE. The current threshold number of two OBE days/week as a criterion for BED may need to be reconsidered.
authors.affiliation: Center for Health Research, Kaiser Permanente Northwest, Portland, Oregon 97227, USA. john.f.dickerson@kpchr.org
authors.forename: John F
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Dickerson
authors.forename: Lynn
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: DeBar
authors.forename: Nancy A
authors.initials: NA
authors.lastname: Perrin
authors.forename: Frances
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Lynch
authors.forename: G Terence
authors.initials: GT
authors.lastname: Wilson
authors.forename: Francine
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Rosselli
authors.forename: Helena C
authors.initials: HC
authors.lastname: Kraemer
authors.forename: Ruth H
authors.initials: RH
authors.lastname: Striegel-Moore
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D056912:Binge-Eating Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000628:therapy*; D003695:Delivery of Health Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D057286:Electronic Health Records; D005260:Female; D017048:Health Care Costs; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales