Patients versus symptomatic volunteers in bulimia nervosa research

Abstract

The majority of the controlled treatment trials for bulimia nervosa have used symptomatic volunteers for at least part of their subject sample. However, little is known about possible differences between patients with bulimia nervosa and volunteers recruited for treatment research. In this study we compared 40 subjects recruited through newspaper advertisements for treatment studies to a series of 40 patients who presented spontaneously for treatment. Overall, the two groups were quite similar on most variables examined, including age of onset of the eating disorder, descriptions of binge–eating behavior, weight histories, and attitudes toward weight and shape. However, patients were more than four times more likely to have been treated for depression. These results suggest that there are many similarities, and probably some differences, between symptomatic volunteers and patients, as defined in this study.

A controlled evaluation of hypnobehavioural treatment for bulimia nervosa: Immediate pre‐post treatment effects

“…Owing to the large percentage of recruited subjects (or symptomatic volunteers) comprising the sample who met the criteria for entry, a comparison between clinical characteristics of recruited patients (n= 38) and patients who were not recruited (n = 47) was conducted. Consistent with a previous study of this issue (Mitchell et al, 1988) there were similarities on many variables and some differences. The majority of the differences with respect to clinical characteristics were not significant ( p values > 0.05).…”

Subthreshold binge eating disorder

“…This study has several noteworthy strengths. Our sample was established by recruiting in the community, thus avoiding biases inherent in using patient samples (Mitchell et al, 1988). The three study groups were matched on race and age; therefore, group differences do not appear to be the result of recruitment biases or age effects.…”

Are There Differences in Response to Psychological Treatment for Recruited and Nonrecruited Bulimic Patients?

“…In treatment outcome research patients are often recruited so that a predictable number of patients can enter treatment and provide an adequate sample size (Mitchell et al, 1988). However, some treatment outcome studies have preferred a subject sample of either recruited or symptomatic volunteers (e.g.…”

“…Two studies have investigated the psychological pro®les of recruited and nonrecruited bulimia nervosa patients. Mitchell et al (1988) compared 40 recruited and 40 nonrecruited bulimia nervosa patients on a number of variables. They found similarities between recruited and nonrecruited patients on several variables as well as differences between the groups.…”