[Eating disorders: symptomatology, course and prognosis, epidemiology, and psychiatric comorbidity. Review article]. / Atraskanir: einkenni, framvinda, faraldsfraedi og tengsl vid gedsjúkdóma. Yfirlitsgrein.

OBJECTIVE: Eating disorders are a group of serious psychiatric disorders that affect primarily young women and can have serious consequences on their lives and their families. Eating disorders are characterized by disordered eating behaviour with desire for thinness that can result in serious physical and psychological symptoms and death. Eating disorders tend to run a chronic course. Psychiatric comorbidity and physical complications are common among eating disordered patients and these issues need to be taken into consideration during treatment. Prevalence and incidence of eating disorders appears to be increasing in Western societies and follow increased prosperity and obesity problems. There is no reason to believe that the situation is different in Iceland but research is lacking. In this review article we address the main symptoms and diagnostic criteria of three types of eating disorders, that is anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa and eating disorder not otherwise specified. The course and prognosis, epidemiology, and psychiatric comorbidity of eating disorders will also be presented. Finally, we discuss the services available to eating disordered patients here in Iceland and the need for further development of the services.

[Reliability and validity of the Icelandic version of the Bulimia Test-Revised (BULIT-R)]. / Próffraedilegir eiginleikar íslenskrar gerdar Bulimia Test-Revised (BULIT-R) prófsins.

OBJECTIVE: The psychometric properties of the Icelandic version of the Bulimia Test-Revised (BULIT-R) were investigated. The BULIT-R is a self-report instrument designed to assess a broad range of eating-disordered behaviour, particularly bulimic symptomatology. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The BULIT-R was administered to 66 female patients receiving outpatient psychiatric treatment. Almost half of the patients (n=32) sought treatment for disturbed eating behaviours and 34 women were in treatment for depression or anxiety. In addition, three other self-report measures were administered to the women, the Eating Disorder Diagnostic Scale (EDDS), the Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II) and the Obsessive-Compulsive Inventory-Revised (OCI-R), in order to assess convergent and divergent validity. RESULTS: The study estimated the reliability and construct validity of the BULIT-R. The internal reliability was high (Cronbach's coefficient alpha = 0,96). The BULIT-R correlated highly with EDDS, a brief self-report measure for diagnosing anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa and binge eating disorder, and it correlated lower with BDI-II and OCI-R. The BULIT-R differentiated between patients with and without eating-disordered symptomatology. CONCLUSIONS: These results indicate that the Icelandic version of the BULIT-R is a reliable and valid measure to assess eating disordered behaviour, particularly bulimic behaviour among female outpatients.