Bias in binge eating disorder: how representative are recruited clinic samples?

The aim of this study was to investigate sampling bias as it affects recruited clinic samples of binge eating disorder (BED). Demographic and clinical characteristics of a recruited clinic sample were compared with a community sample. The 2 groups met the same operational definition of BED and were...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inJournal of consulting and clinical psychology Vol. 69; no. 3; p. 383
Main Authors Wilfley, D E, Pike, K M, Dohm, F A, Striegel-Moore, R H, Fairburn, C G
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published United States 01.06.2001
Subjects
Adolescent
Adult
Bulimia - diagnosis
Bulimia - epidemiology
Bulimia - psychology
Comorbidity
Diagnosis, Dual (Psychiatry)
Female
Humans
Mental Disorders - diagnosis
Mental Disorders - epidemiology
Mental Disorders - psychology
Personality Assessment - statistics & numerical data
Psychiatric Status Rating Scales
Sampling Studies
Selection Bias
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Summary:The aim of this study was to investigate sampling bias as it affects recruited clinic samples of binge eating disorder (BED). Demographic and clinical characteristics of a recruited clinic sample were compared with a community sample. The 2 groups met the same operational definition of BED and were assessed using the same primarily interview-based methods. Ethnicity, severity of binge eating, and social maladjustment were found to increase treatment seeking among participants with BED rather than levels of psychiatric distress or comorbidity. These findings suggest that previous studies using recruited clinic samples have not biased estimates of psychiatric comorbidity in BED.
ISSN:0022-006X
DOI:10.1037/0022-006X.69.3.383