TY - JOUR
T1 - Prevalence and correlates of disordered eating in a general population sample
T2 - The South East London Community Health (SELCoH) study
AU - Solmi, F.
AU - Hatch, S. L.
AU - Hotopf, M.
AU - Treasure, J.
AU - Micali, N.
N1 - Funding Information:
Acknowledgments SLH and MH receive salary support from the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Mental Health Biomedical Research Centre at South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust and Institute of Psychiatry, King’s College London. This research was supported by the Biomedical Research Nucleus data management and informatics facility at South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, which is funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Mental Health Biomedical Research Centre at South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust and King’s College London and a joint infrastructure grant from Guy’s and St Thomas’ Charity and the Maudsley Charity. This research was also funded by a National Institute of Health Research (NIHR) clinician scientist award to Dr N Micali and by a grant received by the British Academy. These funders had no involvement in study design, data collection, analysis or the decision to submit for publication. The authors have no financial involvement (including employment, fees, share ownership) or affiliation with any organisation whose financial interests may be affected by material in the manuscript, or which might potentially bias it. This publication is the work of the authors and Nadia Micali will serve as guarantors for the contents of this paper.
PY - 2014/8
Y1 - 2014/8
N2 - Purpose: Disordered eating has been shown to be more prevalent than full eating disorders diagnoses. However, research on its prevalence, socio-demographic, psychological correlates, and patterns of service use in multi-ethnic samples is still limited. This paper explores these associations in a South London-based (UK) sample. Methods: The South East London Community Health (SELCoH) study is a general population survey (N = 1,698) of individuals aged 16+. Disordered eating was defined as 2 positive answers at the SCOFF questionnaire. Crude and adjusted logistic and multinomial logistic regression models were fit to investigate associations between socio-demographic characteristics, disordered eating, psychiatric comorbidity, and service use. Results: A total of 164 (10 %) participants reported disordered eating and the majority were from ethnic minorities. In adjusted models, Asian ethnicity was associated with purging, loss of control eating and preoccupation with food. Individuals with disordered eating had higher odds of screening positive for post-traumatic stress disorder and personality disorders and of having anxiety/mood disorders, suicidal ideation/attempts, hazardous levels of drinking, and used drugs in the previous year. Only 36 % of individuals with disordered eating had sought professional help in the previous 12 months mostly through their general practitioner (27.4 %), followed by psychotherapists (12.8 %) and mental health specialists (5.5 %). Conclusion: This study found a high prevalence of disordered eating, especially amongst ethnic minorities, and associations with a number of psychiatric conditions. Overall few participants accessed specialist services. These findings suggest that both disordered eating manifestations amongst ethnic minorities and access to care need better investigation.
AB - Purpose: Disordered eating has been shown to be more prevalent than full eating disorders diagnoses. However, research on its prevalence, socio-demographic, psychological correlates, and patterns of service use in multi-ethnic samples is still limited. This paper explores these associations in a South London-based (UK) sample. Methods: The South East London Community Health (SELCoH) study is a general population survey (N = 1,698) of individuals aged 16+. Disordered eating was defined as 2 positive answers at the SCOFF questionnaire. Crude and adjusted logistic and multinomial logistic regression models were fit to investigate associations between socio-demographic characteristics, disordered eating, psychiatric comorbidity, and service use. Results: A total of 164 (10 %) participants reported disordered eating and the majority were from ethnic minorities. In adjusted models, Asian ethnicity was associated with purging, loss of control eating and preoccupation with food. Individuals with disordered eating had higher odds of screening positive for post-traumatic stress disorder and personality disorders and of having anxiety/mood disorders, suicidal ideation/attempts, hazardous levels of drinking, and used drugs in the previous year. Only 36 % of individuals with disordered eating had sought professional help in the previous 12 months mostly through their general practitioner (27.4 %), followed by psychotherapists (12.8 %) and mental health specialists (5.5 %). Conclusion: This study found a high prevalence of disordered eating, especially amongst ethnic minorities, and associations with a number of psychiatric conditions. Overall few participants accessed specialist services. These findings suggest that both disordered eating manifestations amongst ethnic minorities and access to care need better investigation.
KW - Comorbidity
KW - Disordered eating
KW - Ethnic minorities
KW - Mental illness
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84904857148&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1007/s00127-014-0822-3
DO - 10.1007/s00127-014-0822-3
M3 - Journal article
C2 - 24441522
AN - SCOPUS:84904857148
SN - 0933-7954
VL - 49
SP - 1335
EP - 1346
JO - Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology
JF - Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology
IS - 8
ER -