Changes in the presenting features of females with anorexia nervosa in northeast Scotland, 1965-1991

• Published in: The International journal of eating disorders Vol. 26; no. 3; pp. 289 - 294
• Main Authors: Eagles, John M., Easton, Euan A., Nicoll, Kirsteen S., Johnston, Maureen I., Millar, Harry R.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York John Wiley & Sons, Inc 01.11.1999; Wiley; Wiley Subscription Services, Inc
• Subjects: Adult; Anorexia; anorexia nervosa; Anorexia Nervosa - diagnosis; Anorexia Nervosa - epidemiology; Anorexia Nervosa - psychology; Biological and medical sciences; Body Mass Index; Catchment Area (Health); Eating disorders; Female; Females; History; Humans; Incidence; Medical Records; Medical sciences; Mental health; Nosology. Terminology. Diagnostic criteria; Organization of mental health. Health systems; primary care records; Primary Health Care; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychopathology. Psychiatry; Retrospective Studies; Scotland - epidemiology; Severity of Illness Index; Social psychiatry. Ethnopsychiatry; Techniques and methods; United Kingdom; Scotland; Great Britain; Europe; United Kingdom > UK; Human; Body mass index; Criterion; Primary health care; Mental health; Female; Anorexia nervosa; Diagnosis; Eating disorder; Public health
• ISSN: 0276-3478; 1098-108X
• DOI: 10.1002/(SICI)1098-108X(199911)26:3<289::AID-EAT6>3.0.CO;2-#

Objective Rates of anorexia nervosa among females presenting to specialist services in northeast Scotland had increased significantly between 1965 and 1991. We sought to elucidate possible causes of this change. Method Hospital and primary care records were searched. Age, weight, and body mass index (BMI) were determined for 196 patients and duration of symptoms from onset to presentation was established in 190 cases. Changes in these parameters were investigated over the 27‐year period of the study. Results There was no significant change in duration of illness or in age at presentation. BMIs increased significantly, but this arose because patients decreased in height, not because they increased in weight. There was no increase in seriously underweight patients with BMIs of ≤15. Discussion Anorexic females were not referred at an earlier stage of their illness, but primary care teams may be identifying and referring milder cases. Alternatively, the findings may reflect an increasing incidence of eating disorders coupled with changes in their presenting symptomatology. © 1999 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Int J Eat Disord 26: 289–294, 1999.