EATING DISORDER IN WOMEN ADMITTED TO HOSPITAL FOLLOWING DELIBERATE SELF-POISONING

Measures of abnormal eating behaviour in 48 women referred for psychia tric assessment following an act of deliberate self-poisoning (subject s) were compared with those in 50 women attending an accident and emer gency department following minor accidental injury (controls). Disorde red eating behaviour was significantly more prevalent in the subject g roup, even when the effect of depression was removed. Four subjects fu lfilled the diagnostic criteria for bulimia nervosa, but none of the s ubjects met the diagnostic criteria for anorexia nervosa. The prevalen ce of obesity was the same in both subject and control groups. The deg ree of abnormal eating was very strongly correlated with a measure of inwardly directed irritability in both subjects and controls, and was strongly associated with measures of impulsiveness, outwardly directed irritability and anxiety in subjects.