BACKGROUND: Eating disorders affect upwards of 30 million people worldwide and often go undertreated and underdiagnosed. The purpose of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of the Sick, Control, One, Fat and Food (SCOFF) questionnaire for DSM-5 eating disorders in the general population. METHOD: The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses (PRISMA) were followed. A PubMed search was conducted among peer-reviewed articles. Information regarding validation of the SCOFF was required for inclusion. Study quality was assessed using the Quality Assessment of Diagnostic Accuracy Studies-2 (QUADAS-2) tool. RESULTS: The final analysis included 25 studies. The validity of the SCOFF was high across samples with a pooled sensitivity of 0.86 (95% CI, 0.78-0.91) and specificity of 0.83 (95% CI, 0.77-0.88). Subgroup analyses were conducted to examine the impact of methodology, study quality, and clinical characteristics on diagnostic accuracy. Studies with the highest sensitivity tended to be case-control studies of young women with anorexia nervosa (AN) and bulimia nervosa (BN). Studies which included more men, included those diagnosed with binge eating disorder, and recruited from large community samples tended to have lower sensitivity. Few studies reported on BMI and race/ethnicity; thus, subgroups for these factors could not be examined. No studies used reference standards which assessed all DSM-5 eating disorders. CONCLUSION: This meta-analysis of 25 validation studies demonstrates that the SCOFF is a simple and useful screening tool for young women at risk for AN and BN. However, there is not enough evidence to support utilizing the SCOFF for screening for the range of DSM-5 eating disorders in primary care and community-based settings. Further examination of the validity of the SCOFF or development of a new screening tool, or multiple tools, to screen for the range of DSM-5 eating disorders heterogenous populations is warranted. TRIAL REGISTRATION: This study is registered online with PROSPERO (CRD42018089906).
Objective
Little is known about prevalence estimates of new and revised DSM‐5 eating disorders diagnoses in general, and especially among high‐risk, underserved and diverse eating disorder populations. The aim of the current study was to determine prevalence, gender differences and correlates of DSM‐5 eating disorders in veterans.
Method
Iraq and Afghanistan war era veterans (N = 1,121, 51.2% women) completed the Eating Disorder Diagnostic Scale‐5 and validated measures of eating pathology and mental health between July 2014 and September 2019.
Results
Overall more women than men (32.8% vs. 18.8%, p < .001) reported symptoms consistent with a DSM‐5 eating disorder. Prevalence estimates (women vs. men) for the specific diagnoses were: Anorexia Nervosa (AN; 0.0% vs. 0.0%), Bulimia Nervosa (BN; 6.1% vs. 3.5%), Binge‐Eating Disorder (BED; 4.4% vs. 2.9%), Atypical AN (AAN; 13.6% vs. 4.9%), Subclinical BN (0.0% vs. 0.2%), Subclinical BED (1.4% vs. 0.6%), Purging Disorder (2.1% vs. 0.7%), and Night Eating Syndrome (NES; 5.2% vs. 6.0%). Women were more likely to have BN or AAN, and there was no difference for BED or NES among genders. The eating disorder group had a higher mean BMI, and significantly greater eating pathology and mental health symptoms than the non‐eating disorder group.
Discussion
Approximately one‐third of women, and one‐fifth of men, reported symptoms consistent with a DSM‐5 eating disorder diagnosis. These high prevalence estimates across genders, and associated mental health concerns, suggest an urgent need to better understand and address eating disorders in military and veteran populations.
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