title: Eating disorders: What age at onset?
abstract: Age at onset (AAO) of eating disorders has classically been described in adolescence. We analyzed data from 806 subjects with anorexia nervosa (AN) or bulimia nervosa (BN) and performed a normal distribution admixture analysis to determine their AAO. No significant differences were found concerning the AAO functions of AN and BN subjects. Both groups had a mean AAO of about 18 years. Most of the subjects with AN (75.3%) and BN (83.3%) belonged to the early onset group. The definition of AAO for ED may be crucial for planning treatment modalities, with specific consideration of their clinical history and course.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of Naples SUN, Largo Madonna delle Grazie, 80138 Naples, Italy. Electronic address: umberto.volpe@unina2.it.
authors.forename: Umberto
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Volpe
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of Naples SUN, Largo Madonna delle Grazie, 80138 Naples, Italy.
authors.forename: Alfonso
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tortorella
authors.affiliation: Section of Psychiatry, Department of Public Health, University of Cagliari, Italy; Department of Pharmacology, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS, Canada.
authors.forename: Mirko
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Manchia
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of Naples SUN, Largo Madonna delle Grazie, 80138 Naples, Italy.
authors.forename: Alessio M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Monteleone
authors.affiliation: Rita Levi Montalcini Department of Neuroscience, Anxiety and Mood Disorders Unit, University of Turin, Italy.
authors.forename: Umberto
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Albert
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of Naples SUN, Largo Madonna delle Grazie, 80138 Naples, Italy; Department of Medicine and Surgery, University of Salerno, Italy.
authors.forename: Palmiero
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Monteleone
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D017668:Age of Onset; D000856:Anorexia Nervosa / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000628:therapy; D052018:Bulimia Nervosa / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000628:therapy; D001068:Feeding and Eating Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Age at onset; Eating disorders; Prognosis