Development of a Chinese medicine pattern severity index for understanding eating disorders.
BACKGROUND
Eating disorders commonly affect young girls and women. Four eating disorders are analyzed in this study: anorexia nervosa (AN), bulimia nervosa (BN), eating disorders not otherwise specified (EDNOS), and binge eating disorder (BED). Eating disorders are a modern concept and as such there is no critically appraised research on how Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) conceptualizes of or treats eating disorders. The purpose of this study is to identify and quantify the TCM patterns relevant to eating disorders based on a systematic evaluation of the results of a self-reported questionnaire.


METHODS
One hundred and ninety-six (196) female participants (142 with a self-reported eating disorder and 54 with no eating disorder) completed an online survey, designed to collect data on their current general health and, where relevant, their eating disorder. The Berle methodology was used to identify TCM patterns involved in eating disorders to tabulate and score the number of signs and symptoms experienced by the participants.


RESULTS
For many of the TCM patterns, statistically significant differences were found between presentation severity across the four eating disorders.


CONCLUSIONS
For the first time, there is evidence-based research to classify the TCM patterns involved in AN, BN, EDNOS, and BED. Evidence is given to support the anecdotal theories of TCM patterns involved in eating disorder presentation. These results have relevance on how eating disorders are treated and viewed by TCM practitioners.
School of Biomedical and Health Sciences, Victoria University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
Sarah
S
Fogarty
David
D
Harris
Chris
C
Zaslawski
Andrew J
AJ
McAinch
Lily
L
Stojanovska
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000856:Anorexia Nervosa / Q000175:diagnosis; D002032:Bulimia / Q000175:diagnosis; D052018:Bulimia Nervosa / Q000175:diagnosis; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D001068:Feeding and Eating Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis*; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D020407:Internet; D008516:Medicine, Chinese Traditional; D008875:Middle Aged; D012016:Reference Values; D057566:Self Report; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult