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.