Prevalence of eating disorders in a Spanish school-age population

Purpose: To determine the prevalence of eating disorders (anorexia nervosa, bulimia, and partial syndromes) in students in a Madrid school district du ring the 1993-1994 academic period. The results were compared with those of an earlier study performed in 1985-1986 and with findings in other countri es. Methods: In the first phase, 1314 adolescents (731 girls and 583 boys) with a mean age of 15.05 +/- 0.98 years were surveyed according to the Eating D isorder Inventory (EDI) and a psychosocial data survey. Of these, 1281 (97. 48%) [724 girls (99.04%) and 557 boys (95.54%)] were considered appropriate for the study. The risk population included individuals with a total EDI s core over 50, plus a drive for thinness (DT) score over 10; 180 girls (24.8 6%) and 19 boys (3.41%) were identified on this basis. To reduce possible f alse negatives, those whose score on the bulimia scale was over 5,with amen orrhea of more than 3 months duration and a body mass index (weight in kilo grams per height in square meters) under 18 were also considered to be at r isk. The total risk population thus defined consisted of 293 adolescents (2 2.87%): 67 boys (12.02%) and 226 girls (31.21%). In the second phase, all r isk subjects were reevaluated with a semistructured interview for ED, and t hey were also weighed and measured. In all, 156 adolescents (53.24%)[103 gi rls (45.57%) and 53 boys (79.10%)] participated in person. The remaining 13 7 subjects completed the interview by telephone. Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM)-III-R diagnostic criteria were applied. Results: Five girls (0.69% of the total study population) fulfilled the DSM -III-R criteria for anorexia nervosa, and nine (1.24%), for bulimia nervosa . Two boys (0.36%) had bulimia. Twenty girls (2.76%) and three boys (0.54%) represented partial syndromes. The results of adding the full and partial syndromes showed that 4.7% of the girls and 0.9% of the boys had eating dis orders. Conclusions: This study demonstrates an increase in the prevalence of eatin g disorders in Madrid, reaching similar levels to those reported in the lit erature for other developed countries. (C) Society for Adolescent Medicine, 1999.