title: Clinical and psychological features of normal-weight women with subthreshold anorexia nervosa:  a pilot case-control observational study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Weight preoccupations have been frequently reported in normal-weight subjects. Subthreshold anorexia nervosa (s-AN, all DSM IV TR criteria except amenorrhea or underweight) is a form of eating disorder not otherwise specified that has received scarce scientific attention. Under a case-control design we compared the general characteristics, body composition, and psychopathological features of normal-weight patients with s-AN with those of BMI- and sex-matched controls.
  
  
  METHODS
  Participants in this pilot study included 9 normal-weight women who met the DSM IV TR criteria for s-AN and 18 BMI-matched normal-weight controls. The general characteristics of the study participants were collected by questionnaire. Body composition was measured by bioelectrical impedance. Behavioral and psychological measures included the standardized symptom checklist (SCL-90-R) and the eating disorder inventory (EDI-2).
  
  
  RESULTS
  There were no differences in age, education, employment status, marital status, and history of previous slimming treatment in the two study groups. In addition, anthropometric measures and body composition of s-AN patients and BMI-matched normal weight controls were not significantly different. In the s-AN subgroup, we found a significant relationship between waist circumference and the SCL-90-R obsessivity-compulsivity scale (n=9, r=-0.69, p<0.05). After multiple regression analysis, the SCL-90-R obsessivity-compulsivity scale (beta = 0.61, t=2.7, p=0.017) was the only independent predictor of the presence s-AN in our study cohort.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These pilot results suggest that psychopathological criteria (particularly related to the obsessivity-compulsivity dimension) may be more useful than anthropometric measures for screening of s-AN in normal-weight women.
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health, Neuroscience, Experimental and Forensic Medicine, Human Nutrition and Eating Disorders Research Centre, University of Pavia, Pavia, Italy. anna.tagliabue@unipv.it
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tagliabue
authors.forename: Cinzia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Ferraris
authors.forename: Valentina
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Martinelli
authors.forename: Giovanna
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Pinelli
authors.forename: Ilaria
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Repossi
authors.forename: Claudia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Trentani
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000856:Anorexia Nervosa / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology*; D000886:Anthropometry; D015992:Body Mass Index; D001835:Body Weight; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D009771:Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology; D010045:Outpatients / Q000523:psychology; D010865:Pilot Projects; D013851:Thinness / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology*; D055815:Young Adult