Application of the SCOFF, Eating Attitude Test 26 (EAT 26) and Eating Inventory (TFEQ) questionnaires in young women seeking diet-therapy

Abstract

The SCOFF is a valuable tool for the screening of abnormal eating behaviours but the diagnosis should be always confirmed and supported by the administration of other questionnaires and structured interviews. We have also confirmed the high reliability of the EAT 26 and TFEQ even though the utilisation of these questionnaires has generated some issues about their application in populations characterised by loss of control and overeating episodes.

Validation of the Arabic version of the SCOFF questionnaire for the screening of eating disorders

“…Our results concerning sensitivity and specificity are consistent with previous studies done in the same research frame (28,32,33).…”

“…The SCOFF questionnaire tends to show considerably better results in high-risk populations. The validation of the Spanish and the Finnish version of the SCOFF questionnaire in clinical settings showed excellent validity figures compared with their validation among students and healthy populations (28)(29)(30)(31).…”

Sex difference in using the SCOFF questionnaire to identify eating disorder patients at a psychiatric outpatient clinic

“…Our study replicates this finding in the SCOFF. As in other studies [37], the M-SCOFF revealed low internal consistency (Chronbach alphas of .45 and .61 in men and women, respectively). When used for screening for different dimensions of eating pathology, item 3 had a lower item-total correlation compared to the other 4 items.…”

“…The low internal consistency is a possible trade off for instruments designed to be concise and to detect different ED subtypes simultaneously [15]. It also implies that each question in the SCOFF makes a specific contribution to the diagnosis of disordered eating [37]. As in other comparative studies, the scores for most items are consistently lower in men than in women [35,36].…”

“…Three affirmative answers had been the suggested threshold based on studies performed in samples at risk for EDs, e.g., female psychiatric patients [18] and young women seeking diet therapy [37]. In contrast, male ED patients were identified most efficiently at the cut-off value of 2 as originally recommended.…”