High prevalence of eating disorders not otherwise specified in northwestern Spain: population-based study

• Published in: Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology 2012-10, Vol.47 (10), p.1669-1673
• Main Authors: Larrañaga, Alejandra, Docet, María F., García-Mayor, Ricardo V.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Adult and adolescent clinical studies; Age Distribution; Anorexia; Anorexia nervosa; Biological and medical sciences; Bulimia; Confidence Intervals; Cross-sectional studies; Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders; Eating behavior disorders; Eating disorders; Epidemiology; Feeding and Eating Disorders - diagnosis; Feeding and Eating Disorders - epidemiology; Female; Females; Health care; Humans; Incidence; Male; Medical sciences; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Middle Aged; Original Paper; Population Surveillance; Population-based studies; Prevalence; Prospective Studies; Psychiatry; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychopathology. Psychiatry; Public health; Questionnaires; Social psychiatry. Ethnopsychiatry; Spain - epidemiology; Surveys and Questionnaires; Young Adult
• ISSN: 0933-7954; 1433-9285
• DOI: 10.1007/s00127-012-0473-1

Purpose To determine the incidence and prevalence of eating disorder and its clinical forms. Methods All new ED cases of both genders, ≥15 years old, diagnosed from January 2005 to December 2009 were included. All patients who suffered from ED in December 2009 were included in the prevalence study. This is a prospective, population-based study. Cumulative incidence rates and 20-year prevalence were calculated. Results The ED incidence was 14.1 (95% CI 11.4–16.1) cases per 100,000 inhabitants per year, for AN, BN and EDNOS 3.1 (95% CI 2.00–4.1), 4.4 (95% CI 3.0–8.00) and 6.5 (95% CI 4.8–7.9), respectively. The incidence of ED at the four age-intervals, 15–24, 25–34, 35–45 and >45 years, revealed that the 25–34-year interval had the highest incidence; moreover, new cases were observed even in the >45-year interval. The prevalence of ED was 82.8 (95% CI 69.4–94.5) per 100,000 inhabitants, being for AN, BN and EDNOS 18.6 (95% CI 12.5–24.4), 25.7 (95% CI 18.5–32.5) and 38.3 (95% CI 29.4–46.5), respectively. Conclusions The incidence and prevalence of EDNOS are the highest in the ED cases; furthermore, new cases of ED are observed above the age of 45, which are remarkable data.