ASSESSMENT OF DIAGNOSTIC FEATURES OF BULIMIA-NERVOSA - INTERVIEW VERSUS SELF-REPORT FORMAT

In order to determine the clinical severity of bulimia nervosa and to measure symptomatic improvement during treatment, the behavioral and p sychological features of the syndrome must be assessed. Focused semist ructured interviews have recently been designed for this purpose, but such instruments can be time-consuming and costly. The present study c ompared the assessment of the key symptoms of bulimia nervosa using th e Eating Disorder Examination with data obtained in self-report invent ories and in patients diaries of binge eating and purging. Results sug gest that once the diagnosis has been established and patients have be en instructed in the construct of a binge, the essential features of b ulimia nervosa (frequency of binge eating and purging, and overconcern with body shape and weight) can be evaluated with self-report measure s. These findings may be useful for the purposes of repeated assessmen t of progress and measurement of outcome in treatment studies. (C) 199 4 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.