Identification of Binge Eating Disorder Criteria: Results of a National Survey of Healthcare Providers

Purpose To determine whether general healthcare providers and adult psychiatrists recognized binge eating disorder (BED) symptoms and features. The aims were to examine how they delineated the core criteria of BED-eating a large amount of food and sense of loss of control over eating-and how their evaluations compared to ratings by BED experts. Design This is a cross-sectional study of a nationwide U.S. sample of healthcare providers and a convenience sample of BED experts. Methods Providers were mailed surveys that asked respondents about their perceptions of a large amount of food and whether they thought case vignettes met thresholds for loss of control. Participants were also asked to select BED diagnostic criteria from a symptom list. Results were analyzed using one-way analyses of variance with post-hoc comparisons and chi-squared tests. Findings The survey was completed by 405 healthcare providers (response rate of 28.4%). Ratings of a large amount of food did not differ between BED experts and general healthcare providers (p = .10) or psychiatrists (p = .90). Provider groups did not differ significantly on whether five of the six vignettes met thresholds for loss of control (p > .05). Of the respondents, 93.0% of general healthcare providers and 88.6% of psychiatrists could not correctly identify the diagnostic criteria for BED. Conclusions Across provider groups, demarcation of a large amount of food and loss of control over eating were relatively consistent. However, general healthcare providers and psychiatrists were not able to correctly identify BED symptoms. Clinical Relevance Training and education are greatly needed to improve knowledge of the diagnostic criteria for BED.