title: Prevalence of eating disorders in middle-aged women.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Little is known about the prevalence and correlates of eating disorders (ED) in middle-aged women.
  
  
  METHODS
  We mailed anonymous questionnaires to 1,500 Austrian women aged 40-60 years, assessing ED (defined by DSM-IV), subthreshold ED, body image, and quality of life. We broadly defined "subthreshold ED" by the presence of either (1) binge eating with loss of control or (2) purging behavior, without requiring any of the other usual DSM-IV criteria for frequency or severity of these symptoms.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of the 715 (48%) responders, 33 [4.6%; 95% confidence interval (CI): 3.3-6.4%] reported symptoms meeting full DSM-IV criteria for an ED [bulimia nervosa = 10; binge eating disorder = 11; eating disorder not otherwise specified (EDNOS) = 12]. None displayed anorexia nervosa. Another 34 women (4.8%; CI: 3.4-6.6%) displayed subthreshold ED. These women showed levels of associated psychopathology virtually equal to the women with full-syndrome diagnoses.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  ED appear common in middle-aged women, with a preponderance of binge eating disorder and EDNOS diagnoses as compared to the "classical" diagnoses of anorexia and bulimia nervosa. Interestingly, middle-aged women with even very broadly defined subthreshold ED showed distress and impairment comparable to women with full-scale ED.
authors.affiliation: University Clinic of Psychosomatic Medicine, Innsbruck Medical University, Innsbruck, Austria.
authors.forename: Barbara
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Mangweth-Matzek
authors.forename: Hans W
authors.initials: HW
authors.lastname: Hoek
authors.forename: Claudia I
authors.initials: CI
authors.lastname: Rupp
authors.forename: Kerstin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Lackner-Seifert
authors.forename: Nadja
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Frey
authors.forename: Alexandra B
authors.initials: AB
authors.lastname: Whitworth
authors.forename: Harrison G
authors.initials: HG
authors.lastname: Pope
authors.forename: Johann
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kinzl
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001317:Austria / Q000453:epidemiology; D001828:Body Image / Q000523:psychology*; D015992:Body Mass Index; D016001:Confidence Intervals; D003627:Data Interpretation, Statistical; D039721:Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders; D001068:Feeding and Eating Disorders / Q000145:classification / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D011594:Psychometrics; D011788:Quality of Life / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
keywords: binge-eating disorder; body image; bulimia nervosa; eating disorder not otherwise specified; eating disorders; middle age; subthreshold eating disorders; women