title: Prevalence and comorbidity of eating disorders among a community sample of adolescents: 2-year follow-up.
abstract: The previous literature about comorbidity between eating disorders (ED) and other DSM-IV psychiatric disorders in adolescence has employed cross-sectional studies with clinical samples, where the comorbid disorders were diagnosed retrospectively. The present study aims to overcome these limitations by the analysis of comorbidity in a community population during 2-year follow-up. A semi-structured interview was applied to a teenager sample. Firstly, a cross-sectional and non-randomized study on psychiatric morbidity was conducted with 993 teenagers between the ages of 12 and 16 from five schools. Secondly, 326 students between 14 and 17 years old of one school were reassessed 2 years later in order to detect ED new cases and find associations with previous psychiatric disorders. The ED prevalence was 3.6%. Cross-sectional analysis revealed that 62.9% of individuals with an ED had comorbid disorders: anxiety disorders (51.4%), Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (31.4%), oppositional defiant disorder (11.4%), and obsessive compulsive disorder (8.6%). Prospective longitudinal analysis showed an ED incidence rate of 2.76% over the course of 2 years. 22.2% of new cases had received previous psychiatric diagnoses, of which all were anxiety disorders. Thus, ED exhibited a high comorbidity rate among adolescent populations and anxiety disorders were the most common comorbid diagnosis.
authors.affiliation: University of Valencia, Department of Medicine, Valencia, Spain; Infant and Juvenile Psychiatry and Eating Disorders Section, La Fe University and Polytechnic Hospital, Valencia, Spain; CIBERESP, Spain.
authors.forename: Luis
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Rojo-Moreno
authors.affiliation: Infant and Juvenile Psychiatry and Eating Disorders Section, La Fe University and Polytechnic Hospital, Valencia, Spain.
authors.forename: Pilar
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Arribas
authors.affiliation: University of Valencia, Department of Medicine, Valencia, Spain; Infant and Juvenile Psychiatry and Eating Disorders Section, La Fe University and Polytechnic Hospital, Valencia, Spain.
authors.forename: Javier
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Plumed
authors.affiliation: Health Research Institute La Fe, Valencia, Spain.
authors.forename: Natalia
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Gimeno
authors.affiliation: Health Research Institute La Fe, Valencia, Spain; University of Valencia, ERI Lectura & Department of Methodology for Behavioral Sciences, Valencia, Spain. Electronic address: ana.garcia-blanco@uv.es.
authors.forename: Ana
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: García-Blanco
authors.affiliation: University of Extramadura, Department of Psychiatry, Badajoz, Spain.
authors.forename: Francisco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Vaz-Leal
authors.affiliation: Infant and Juvenile Psychiatry and Eating Disorders Section, La Fe University and Polytechnic Hospital, Valencia, Spain.
authors.forename: María
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Luisa Vila
authors.affiliation: University of Valencia, Department of Medicine, Valencia, Spain; Infant and Juvenile Psychiatry and Eating Disorders Section, La Fe University and Polytechnic Hospital, Valencia, Spain.
authors.forename: Lorenzo
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Livianos
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001008:Anxiety Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology*; D001289:Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity / Q000453:epidemiology*; D019958:Attention Deficit and Disruptive Behavior Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology*; D002648:Child; D015897:Comorbidity; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D039721:Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders; D001068:Feeding and Eating Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D009771:Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder / Q000453:epidemiology*; D015995:Prevalence; D011446:Prospective Studies; D013030:Spain / Q000453:epidemiology
keywords: Adolescence; Eating disorders; Epidemiology