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
. 1996 Apr;168(4):500-6.
doi: 10.1192/bjp.168.4.500.

Should amenorrhoea be necessary for the diagnosis of anorexia nervosa? Evidence from a Canadian community sample

P E Garfinkel  1 , E Lin, P Goering, C Spegg, D Goldbloom, S Kennedy, A S Kaplan, D B Woodside
Affiliations

Should amenorrhoea be necessary for the diagnosis of anorexia nervosa? Evidence from a Canadian community sample

P E Garfinkel et al. Br J Psychiatry. 1996 Apr.

Abstract

Background: This study compares the characteristics of women with anorexia nervosa with those of women who have all the diagnostic features of that disorder except amenorrhoea.

Method: The study uses data from a large community epidemiological survey of the mental health status of household residents in Ontario, Canada. A multi-stage stratified sampling design generated a sample of 4285 females aged 15-64. DSM-III-R diagnoses were made using the Composite International Diagnostic interview.

Results: Eighty-four out of 4285 female respondents met full or partial-syndrome criteria for anorexia nervosa. Comparison of these two groups revealed few statistically significant differences in terms of demographics, psychiatric comorbidity, family history or early experiences.

Conclusions: Amenorrhoea did not discriminate between women with anorexia nervosa and women with all the features except amenorrhoea across a number of relevant variables. The authors question the utility of amenorrhoea as a diagnostic criterion.

PubMed Disclaimer

LinkOut - more resources