DIAGNOSTIC-CRITERIA FOR BULIMIA-NERVOSA - REEXAMINATION AND PROPOSALSBASED ON A SERIES OF 539 CONSECUTIVE CASES

Bulimia nervosa is a recently identified psychiatric disorder. Several clinical definitions have been successively proposed, some of which c ontradictory. In a multicenter study (INSERM clinical research network ), 539 consecutive outpatients with bulimic behaviors were evaluated i n 18 treatment centers and classified according to several diagnostic reference systems. We tested the validity of diagnostic criteria propo sed by the American Psychiatric Association for DSM-IV classification. Our data support inclusion of both purging and nonpurging subtypes fo r the diagnosis of bulimia nervosa. The newly defined syndrome << Bing e Eating Disorder >> should be retained, but its diagnostic criteria m odified.