A survey of 376 women who met the DSM III criteria for bulimia is presented. The purpose of the survey is to provide information regarding the demographics of this population, the total extent of food‐related behavior and basic indices of psychiatric symptoms. The results indicate that the typical bulimic surveyed was a single,Caucasian woman in her early 20's who was well educated and of average weight for her height. Most of the women were binge eating and using evacuation techniques such as self‐induced vomiting on a daily to more than daily basis and had engaged in this behavior for 51/2 years. Despite the severity of the disturbed eating behavior, the sample was relatively symptom free on standard indices of psychiatric symptoms when compared to other psychiatric populations.

To investigate the incidence and correlates of bulimic behavior, 1268 high school females were surveyed. A 47-item questionnaire was used to identify a group of students that would meet the DSM-III criteria for a probable diagnosis of bulimia. Students were then compared across the four content areas of demographics; body perception and weight information; dieting, exercise and menstrual behavior; and frequency of bingeing and purging behavior. Results indicated that 4.9% of the students met rigorous criteria for the diagnosis of bulimia. Between-group comparisons indicated that body dissatisfaction, drive for thinness, and chronicity of dieting differentiated the two groups.

Background/Aims: The recruitment of culturally diverse subject populations into research studies, particularly African-Americans (AA), has been the focus of intense interest by many groups. Methods: In this paper, we present the methodology utilized to create a predominantly AA cohort for the longitudinal study of risk factors in Alzheimer’s disease (AD). The underlying strategy was that of identifying geographically diverse clinical venues within South Carolina (SC) where large numbers of AA patients already come to seek medical care. Results: This strategy was successful, although recruitment rates for AA subjects (43.4%) still fell below those for white subjects (70.3%; p = 0.0025). Subject characteristics of AA subjects that chose to enroll were not substantially different from those that declined to participate. The demographic characteristics of this cohort were largely similar to those of the SC Alzheimer Disease Registry, a population-based database. The problems of standardization of subject recruitment and assessment across diverse clinical venues are also addressed. Conclusion: The utilization of geographically diverse sites for research recruitment where minorities already receive medical care is one practical solution to the problem of minority participation in research. Multi-site recruitment to improve minority recruitment can be accomplished with acceptable standardization and inter-rater reliability.

This brief report presents preliminary findings regarding the use of short‐term group treatment for bulimia. Ten patients who met the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual III (DSM‐III) criteria for bulimia were treated in a 12‐session psycho‐educational format. Results indicated that all patients reduced the frequency of their bulimic behavior and showed change in attitudes related to pathological eating behavior. The preliminary results suggest that short‐term group treatment may be a moderately effective treatment intervention for bulimia.

No abstract