Profiles of female students with anorexia or bulimia nervosa in a college health setting

Abstract

A retrospective chart audit was conducted on the medical records of 30 female college students followed in a campus health service with a DSM-IV (1994) diagnosis of either anorexia (n=l4) or bulimia nervosa (n=16). There was no statistically significant difference in the selected characteristics of age, race, family history of an eating disorder or psychological disorder, and consent for parental involvement in treatment between the anorexic and bulimic groups. There were no statistically significant differences in the societal influences as measured by triggering factors, athletic involvement, sorority involvement, and major by college. There was a statistically significant difference in age of onset of dieting. The study found that bulimics were significantly younger. The study found that 83.3% of the subjects had a comorbid psychological diagnosis, the two most frequent diagnoses _as depression and anxiety. There were no measurable differences in the utilization of multidisciplinary services except in the number of medical visits attended. Anorexic were seen by medical providers significantly more often.