Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2012 May;45(4):531-6.
doi: 10.1002/eat.20955. Epub 2011 Aug 31.

Effects of reducing the frequency and duration criteria for binge eating on lifetime prevalence of bulimia nervosa and binge eating disorder: implications for DSM-5

Sara E Trace  1 , Laura M Thornton, Tammy L Root, Suzanne E Mazzeo, Paul Lichtenstein, Nancy L Pedersen, Cynthia M Bulik
Affiliations

Effects of reducing the frequency and duration criteria for binge eating on lifetime prevalence of bulimia nervosa and binge eating disorder: implications for DSM-5

Sara E Trace et al. Int J Eat Disord. 2012 May.

Abstract

Objective: We assessed the impact of reducing the binge eating frequency and duration thresholds on the diagnostic criteria for bulimia nervosa (BN) and binge eating disorder (BED).

Method: We estimated the lifetime population prevalence of BN and BED in 13,295 female twins from the Swedish Twin study of Adults: Genes and Environment employing a range of frequency and duration thresholds. External validation (risk to cotwin) was used to investigate empirical evidence for an optimal binge eating frequency threshold.

Results: The lifetime prevalence estimates of BN and BED increased linearly as the frequency criterion decreased. As the required duration increased, the prevalence of BED decreased slightly. Discontinuity in cotwin risk was observed in BN between at least four times per month and at least five times per month. This model could not be fit for BED.

Discussion: The proposed changes to the DSM-5 binge eating frequency and duration criteria would allow for better detection of binge eating pathology without resulting in a markedly higher lifetime prevalence of BN or BED.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Disclosures: All authors reported no biomedical financial interests or potential conflicts of interest.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Relative Risk to Co-Twin for Bulimia Nervosa for Binge Eating Frequencies Ranging from 1–8 Binges Per Month for 3-Months Duration.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. American Psychiatric Association. Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. Fourth Edition Text Revision. Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Press; 2000.
    1. le Grange D, Binford RB, Peterson CB, Crow SJ, Crosby RD, Klein MH, et al. DSM-IV threshold versus subthreshold bulimia nervosa. Int J Eat Disord. 2006;39:462–467. - PubMed
    1. Rockert W, Kaplan AS, Olmsted MP. Eating disorder not otherwise specified: the view from a tertiary care treatment center. Int J Eat Disord. 2007;40 Suppl:S99–S103. - PubMed
    1. Sullivan PF, Bulik CM, Kendler KS. The epidemiology and classification of bulimia nervosa. Psychol Med. 1998;28:599–610. - PubMed
    1. White MA, Masheb RM, Rothschild BS, Burke-Martindale CH, Grilo CM. The prognostic significance of regular binge eating in extremely obese gastric bypass patients: 12-month postoperative outcomes. J Clin Psychiatry. 2006;67:1928–1935. - PubMed

Publication types