Encyclopedia of Feeding and Eating Disorders

Living Edition
| Editors: Tracey Wade

Epidemiology of Eating Disorders

Living reference work entry
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-287-087-2_55-1
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Definition

Epidemiology deals with the distribution and determinants of disease. Common measures of distribution include incidence (the number of new disease cases per unit of time, expressed as a rate) and prevalence (the total number of all disease cases at a given time, expressed as a proportion). Epidemiological research is concerned with incidence and prevalence in the overall population, but also in population subgroups defined by demographic factors (e.g., gender) or by other potential determinants of disease (e.g., genetic or environmental factors). Epidemiology also deals with the consequences of disease, such as the associated mortality.

This entry focuses on the incidence and prevalence of the major eating disorders – anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, and binge eating disorder – with attention to demographic determinants affecting the incidence/prevalence for each disorder, such as gender, race/ethnicity, country, and age. In addition, this entry considers the mortality...

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References and Further Reading

Review

  1. Wade, T. D., Keski-Rahkonen, A., & Hudson, J. I. (2011). Epidemiology of eating disorders. In M. T. Tsuang, M. Tohen, & P. B. Jones (Eds.), Textbook in psychiatric epidemiology (3rd ed., pp. 343–360). Hoboken: Wiley.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

References

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  2. Hudson, J. I., Hiripi, E., Pope, H. G., Jr., & Kessler, R. C. (2007). The prevalence and correlates of eating disorders in the National Comorbidity Survey Replication. Biological Psychiatry, 61, 348–358.PubMedPubMedCentralCrossRefGoogle Scholar
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Copyright information

© Springer Science+Business Media Singapore 2015

Authors and Affiliations

  1. 1.McLean HospitalBelmontUSA
  2. 2.Department of PsychiatryHarvard Medical SchoolBostonUSA