Intuitive eating longitudinally predicts better psychological health and lower use of disordered eating behaviors: findings from EAT 2010-2018.

PURPOSE: To examine longitudinal associations of intuitive eating (IE), defined as eating according to internal hunger and satiety cues, with psychological health outcomes and disordered eating behaviors. METHODS: Data from a diverse sample of 1491 participants (54.1% female, 19.7% non-Hispanic white) followed from adolescence (baseline; Mage = 14.5 years) into young adulthood (follow-up; Mage = 22.2 years) came from the population-based EAT 2010-2018 (Eating and Activity over Time) study. Logistic regression models predicting psychological health outcomes and disordered eating behaviors at follow-up simultaneously included baseline IE and change in IE from baseline to follow-up as predictors, adjusting for demographic covariates, body mass index, and outcome at baseline. RESULTS: Greater baseline IE and increases in IE from baseline to follow-up were both associated with lower odds of high depressive symptoms, low self-esteem, high body dissatisfaction, unhealthy weight control behaviors (e.g., fasting, skipping meals), extreme weight control behaviors (e.g., taking diet pills, vomiting), and binge eating at 8-year follow-up. Particularly strong protective associations were observed for binge eating, such that a one-point higher IE score at baseline was associated with 74% lower odds of binge eating at follow-up, and a one-point higher increase in IE score from baseline to follow-up was associated with 71% lower odds of binge eating at follow-up. CONCLUSIONS: These results indicate that IE longitudinally predicts better psychological and behavioral health across a range of outcomes and suggest that IE may be a valuable intervention target for improving psychological health and reducing disordered eating behaviors, particularly binge eating. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Level III, cohort study.

Assessing the utility of five domains in SF-12 Health Status Questionnaire in an AIDS clinical trial.

OBJECTIVE: To assess a shortened quality-of-life (QoL) measurement tool in a population with advanced HIV infection. DESIGN: Five domains (seven items) in a 12-item questionnaire (SF-12) were compared with those same domains in a 39-item questionnaire (SF-39). Data were collected using SF-39 in a randomized clinical trial for the prevention of cytomegalovirus disease. METHODS: The performance of SF-12 relative to SF-39 was evaluated within each domain by comparing QoL scores at baseline and over time, assessing the reliability and validity for both instruments, assessing item consistency and discrimination within instruments, and implementing event-time analyses that quantified dependence of the hazard for death and progression of disease (POD) on baseline values. RESULTS: Baseline measures are similar for both instruments, with high correlation within each domain. The slopes over time for the SF-12 and SF-39 domains are also similar. Both the SF-12 and SF-39 domains have satisfactory reliabilities and perfect discrimination. The hazard ratios for death and POD are similar for both instruments within a domain. All SF-12 and most SF-39 domains are highly predictive for death but are not highly predictive for POD. CONCLUSIONS: For the domains considered, SF-12 is a reasonable and effective replacement for SF-39 in studies of patients with advanced HIV disease. SF-12 reduces item redundancy and the burden of data requirements for both investigators and patients; consequently, it may improve compliance with form completion.