Assessing quality of life in eating disorder patients

Abstract

Objective: To examine quality of life among subgroups of eating disorder patients. Method: Self-report questionnaires which included two quality of life measures were completed by 87 individuals referred for treatment to the Australian Capital Territory Eating Disorders Day Program. Health-related quality of life, as measured by the Medical Outcomes Study 12-item Short Form Mental Component Summary scale, and subjective quality of life, as measured by subscales of the World Health Organization Brief Quality of Life Assessment Scale (WHOQOL-BREF), were compared among individuals who received the diagnosis of anorexia nervosa purging subtype (n ¼ 15), anorexia nervosa restricting subtype (n ¼ 19), bulimia nervosa (n ¼ 40) and binge eating disorder (n ¼ 10), and among a general population sample of young adult women employed as a control group (n ¼ 495). Results: Eating disorder patients, when considered together, showed marked impairment in both health-related and subjective quality of life relative to normal control subjects. However, in both domains, restricting anorexia nervosa patients reported significantly better quality of life than other patient groups, after controlling for levels of general psychological distress. Scores on the Social Relationships subscale of the WHOQOL-BREF among individuals in this subgroup were similar to those of normal control subjects. Conclusions: Reliance on any one instrument is likely to be misleading in assessing the quality of life of eating disorder patients. Careful consideration needs to be given to the assessment of restricting anorexia nervosa patients in particular.

Health-Related Quality of Life in Women with Eating Disorders: Association with Subjective and Objective Binge Eating

“…This may seem surprising and differs from some previous research showing substantial impairments in QOL among eating disordered women. However, the present results are also similar to prior findings of unexpectedly high reported QOL with AN patients (Mond, Hay, Rodgers, Owen, & Beumont, 2005;Padierna, Quintana, Arostegui, Gonzalez, & Horcajo, 2000).…”

Calidad de vida, según percepción y comportamientos de control del peso por género, en estudiantes universitarios adolescentes en México

“…Del mismo modo, Mond et al 42 al usar la versión abreviada de The World Health Organization Quality of Life Assessment Instrument (WHOQoL-BREF) y el SF-12, entre grupos de pacientes con desórdenes alimentarios, encontraron que tomados juntos mostraban un marcado empeoramiento en lo referente a la CV relacionada a la salud y la CV subjetiva relacionada con el grupo control. Sin embargo, en nuestro estudio no son sujetos quienes tienen un diagnóstico, sino que auto reportan una conducta.…”

The patient's view on quality of life and eating disorders

“…[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10] Padierna et al 6 showed that after 2 years of treatment and follow-up, ED patients were still more dysfunctional in all areas of life than women of the general population although their perception of their QOL had improved. De la Rie et al 1 also showed that ED patients, even after symptoms are no longer manifest, still report a poorer QOL than a normal reference group.…”

“…The QOL for EDs in most of these studies was assessed using general health-related QOL measures, such as the Short Form-36 (SF-36) [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8] or the Nottingham Health Profile. 9 Although the use of a generic health-related QOL measure helps to provide insight into the QOL of a patient group in comparison to other patient groups or a normal reference group, it has several limitations.…”

“…Purging behaviors and comorbidity were found to predict poor QOL of AN patients. Mond et al 2 found that although ED patients participating in an EDs Day Program reported poorer QOL than normal controls, restrictive AN patients tended to report better QOL than other patient groups, after adjusting for levels of general psychological distress. Mond et al 2 compared two general health-related QOL-measures, namely the SF-12 and the WHOQOL-BREF.…”