Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-tj2md Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-19T05:15:29.869Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Three decades of eating disorders in Dutch primary care: decreasing incidence of bulimia nervosa but not of anorexia nervosa

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 December 2015

F. R. E. Smink ,
D. van Hoeken ,
G. A. Donker ,
E. S. Susser ,
A. J. Oldehinkel  and
H. W. Hoek
F. R. E. Smink
Affiliation:
Parnassia Psychiatric Institute, The Hague, The Netherlands
D. van Hoeken
Affiliation:
Parnassia Psychiatric Institute, The Hague, The Netherlands
G. A. Donker
Affiliation:
NIVEL Primary Care Database, Sentinel Practices, Utrecht, The Netherlands
E. S. Susser
Affiliation:
Department of Epidemiology, Columbia University, Mailman School of Public Health, New York, USA
A. J. Oldehinkel
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands
H. W. Hoek*
Affiliation:
Parnassia Psychiatric Institute, The Hague, The Netherlands Department of Epidemiology, Columbia University, Mailman School of Public Health, New York, USA Department of Psychiatry, University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands
*
*Address for correspondence: Professor H. W. Hoek, M.D., Ph.D, Parnassia Psychiatric Institute, Kiwistraat 43, NL-2552 DH The Hague, The Netherlands. (Email: w.hoek@parnassiagroep.nl)
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Background

Whether the incidence of eating disorders in Western, industrialized countries has changed over time has been the subject of much debate. The purpose of this primary-care study was to examine changes in the incidence of eating disorders in The Netherlands during the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s.

Method

A nationwide network of general practitioners (GPs), serving a representative sample (~1%) of the total Dutch population, recorded newly diagnosed patients with anorexia nervosa (AN) and bulimia nervosa (BN) in their practice during 1985–1989, 1995–1999, and 2005–2009. GPs are key players in the Dutch healthcare system, as their written referral is mandatory in order to get access to specialized (mental) healthcare, covered by health insurance. Health insurance is virtually universal in The Netherlands (99% of the population). A substantial number of GPs participated in all three study periods, during which the same case identification criteria were used and the same psychiatrist was responsible for making the final diagnoses. Incidence rates were calculated and for comparison between periods, incidence rate ratios.

Results

The overall incidence rate of BN decreased significantly in the past three decades (from 8.6 per 100 000 person-years in 1985–1989 to 6.1 in 1995–1999, and 3.2 in 2005–2009). The overall incidence of AN remained fairly stable during three decades, i.e. 7.4 per 1 00 000 person-years in 1985–1989, 7.8 in 1995–1999, and 6.0 in 2005–2009.

Conclusions

The incidence rate of BN decreased significantly over the past three decades, while the overall incidence rate of AN remained stable.

Keywords

Anorexia nervosabulimia nervosaeating disordersepidemiologyincidenceprimary caretime trends
Type
Original Articles
Information
Psychological Medicine , Volume 46 , Issue 6 , April 2016 , pp. 1189 - 1196
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2015 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Aardoom, JJ, Dingemans, AE, Spinhoven, P, Van Furth, EF (2013). Treating eating disorders over the internet: a systematic review and future research directions. International Journal of Eating Disorders 46, 539–552.Google Scholar
Arcelus, J, Mitchell, AJ, Wales, J, Nielsen, S (2011). Mortality rates in patients with anorexia nervosa and other eating disorders. A meta-analysis of 36 studies. Archives of General Psychiatry 68, 724–731.Google Scholar
Attia, E, Becker, AE, Bryant-Waugh, R, Hoek, HW, Kreipe, RE, Marcus, MD, Mitchell, JE, Striegel, RH, Walsh, BT, Wilson, GT, Wolfe, BE, Wonderlich, S (2013). Feeding and eating disorders in DSM-5. American Journal of Psychiatry 170, 1237–1239.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Christodoulou, M (2012). Pro-anorexia websites pose public health challenge. Lancet 379, 110.Google Scholar
Crowther, JH, Armey, M, Luce, KH, Dalton, GR, Leahey, T (2008). The point prevalence of bulimic disorders from 1990 to 2004. International Journal of Eating Disorders 41, 491–497.Google Scholar
Currin, L, Schmidt, U, Treasure, J, Jick, H (2005). Time trends in eating disorder incidence. British Journal of Psychiatry 186, 132–135.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Donker, GA (2006). Continue Morbiditeits Registratie Peilstations Nederland 2005. NIVEL: Utrecht.Google Scholar
Donker, GA (2008 a). Continuous Morbidity Registration at Dutch Sentinel General Practice Network 2006. NIVEL: Utrecht.Google Scholar
Donker, GA (2008 b). Continuous Morbidity Registration at Dutch Sentinel General Practice Network 2007. NIVEL: Utrecht.Google Scholar
Donker, GA (2010). Continuous Morbidity Registration at Dutch Sentinel General Practice Network 2008. NIVEL: Utrecht.Google Scholar
Donker, GA (2011). Continuous Morbidity Registration at Dutch Sentinel General Practice Network 2009. NIVEL: Utrecht.Google Scholar
Fairburn, CG, Beglin, SJ (1990). Studies of the epidemiology of bulimia nervosa. American Journal of Psychiatry 147, 401–408.Google ScholarPubMed
Favaro, A, Caregaro, L, Tenconi, E, Bosello, R, Santonastaso, P (2009). Time trends in age at onset of anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa. Journal of Clinical Psychiatry 70, 1715–1721.Google Scholar
Flegal, KM, Carroll, MD, Kit, BK, Ogden, CL (2012). Prevalence of obesity and trends in the distribution of body mass index among US adults, 1999–2010. Journal of the American Medical Association 307, 491–497.Google Scholar
Fombonne, E (1996). Is bulimia nervosa increasing in frequency? International Journal of Eating Disorders 19, 287–296.Google Scholar
Gast, GC, Frenken, FJ, van Leest, LA, Wendel-Vos, GC, Bemelmans, WJ (2007). Intra-national variation in trends in overweight and leisure time physical activities in The Netherlands since 1980: stratification according to sex, age and urbanisation degree. International Journal of Obesity 31, 515–520.Google Scholar
Gezondheidsraad (Health Council of the Netherlands) (2010). Voor dik en dun. Preventie van overgewicht en obesitas en het risico op eetstoornissen. Gezondheidsraad: Den Haag.Google Scholar
Gordon, RA (2000). Eating Disorders. Anatomy of a Social Epidemic. Blackwell Publishers: Oxford.Google Scholar
Hay, PJ, Mond, J, Buttner, P, Darby, A (2008). Eating disorder behaviors are increasing: findings from two sequential community surveys in South Australia. PLoS ONE 3, e1541.Google Scholar
Hoek, HW (1991). The incidence and prevalence of anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa in primary care. Psychological Medicine 21, 455–460.Google Scholar
Hoek, HW (2006). Incidence, prevalence and mortality of anorexia nervosa and other eating disorders. Current Opinion in Psychiatry 19, 389–394.Google Scholar
Hoek, HW, Bartelds, AIM, Bosveld, JJF, van der Graaf, Y, Limpens, VEL, Maiwald, M, Spaaij, CJK (1995). Impact of urbanization on detection rates of eating disorders. American Journal of Psychiatry 152, 1272–1278.Google Scholar
Hoek, HW, van Hoeken, D (2003). Review of the prevalence and incidence of eating disorders. International Journal of Eating Disorders 34, 383–396.Google Scholar
Keel, PK, Heatherton, TF, Dorer, DJ, Joiner, TE, Zalta, AK (2006). Point prevalence of bulimia nervosa in 1982, 1992, and 2002. Psychological Medicine 36, 119–127.Google Scholar
Keel, PK, Klump, KL (2003). Are eating disorders culture-bound syndromes? Implications for conceptualizing their etiology. Psychological Bulletin 129, 747–769.Google Scholar
Keel, PK, Striegel-Moore, RH (2009). The validity and clinical utility of purging disorder. International Journal of Eating Disorders 42, 706–719.Google Scholar
Keski-Rahkonen, A, Hoek, HW, Linna, MS, Raevuori, A, Sihvola, E, Bulik, CM, Rissanen, A, Kaprio, J (2009). Incidence and outcomes of bulimia nervosa: a nationwide population-based study. Psychological Medicine 39, 823–831.Google Scholar
Keski-Rahkonen, A, Hoek, HW, Susser, ES, Linna, MS, Sihvola, E, Raevuori, A, Bulik, CM, Kaprio, J, Rissanen, A (2007). Epidemiology and course of anorexia nervosa in the community. American Journal of Psychiatry 164, 1259–1265.Google Scholar
Kim, SF (2012). Animal models of eating disorders. Neuroscience 211, 2–12.Google Scholar
Landelijke Stuurgroep Multidisciplinaire Richtlijnontwikkeling in de GGZ (2006). Multidisciplinaire richtlijn Eetstoornissen. Richtlijn voor de diagnostiek en behandeling van Eetstoornissen (art. no.: AF0636). Trimbos Institute: Utrecht. http://www.ggzrichtlijnen.nl/richtlijn/item/pagina.php?richtlijn_id=64 Google Scholar
Machado, PP, Machado, BC, Goncalves, S, Hoek, HW (2007). The prevalence of eating disorders not otherwise specified. International Journal of Eating Disorders 40, 212–217.Google Scholar
Mangweth-Matzek, B, Hoek, HW, Pope, HG Jr. (2014). Pathological eating and body dissatisfaction in middle-aged and older women. Current Opinion in Psychiatry 27, 431–435.Google Scholar
Micali, N, Hagberg, KW, Petersen, I, Treasure, JL (2013). The incidence of eating disorders in the UK in 2000–2009: findings from the general practice research database. BMJ Open 3, e002646.Google Scholar
Ng, M, Fleming, T, Robinson, M, Thomson, B, Graetz, N, Margono, C, Mullany, EC, Biryukov, S, Abbafati, C, Abera, SF, Abraham, JP, Abu-Rmeileh, NM, Achoki, T, AlBuhairan, FS, Alemu, ZA, Alfonso, R, Ali, MK, Ali, R, Guzman, NA, Ammar, W, Anwari, P, Banerjee, A, Barquera, S, Basu, S, Bennett, DA, Bhutta, Z, Blore, J, Cabral, N, Nonato, IC, Chang, JC, Chowdhury, R, Courville, KJ, Criqui, MH, Cundiff, DK, Dabhadkar, KC, Dandona, L, Davis, A, Dayama, A, Dharmaratne, SD, Ding, EL, Durrani, AM, Esteghamati, A, Farzadfar, F, Fay, DF, Feigin, VL, Flaxman, A, Forouzanfar, MH, Goto, A, Green, MA, Gupta, R, Hafezi-Nejad, N, Hankey, GJ, Harewood, HC, Havmoeller, R, Hay, S, Hernandez, L, Husseini, A, Idrisov, BT, Ikeda, N, Islami, F, Jahangir, E, Jassal, SK, Jee, SH, Jeffreys, M, Jonas, JB, Kabagambe, EK, Khalifa, SE, Kengne, AP, Khader, YS, Khang, YH, Kim, D, Kimokoti, RW, Kinge, JM, Kokubo, Y, Kosen, S, Kwan, G, Lai, T, Leinsalu, M, Li, Y, Liang, X, Liu, S, Logroscino, G, Lotufo, PA, Lu, Y, Ma, J, Mainoo, NK, Mensah, GA, Merriman, TR, Mokdad, AH, Moschandreas, J, Naghavi, M, Naheed, A, Nand, D, Narayan, KM, Nelson, EL, Neuhouser, ML, Nisar, MI, Ohkubo, T, Oti, SO, Pedroza, A, Prabhakaran, D, Roy, N, Sampson, U, Seo, H, Sepanlou, SG, Shibuya, K, Shiri, R, Shiue, I, Singh, GM, Singh, JA, Skirbekk, V, Stapelberg, NJ, Sturua, L, Sykes, BL, Tobias, M, Tran, BX, Trasande, L, Toyoshima, H, van de Vijver, S, Vasankari, TJ, Veerman, JL, Velasquez-Melendez, G, Vlassov, VV, Vollset, SE, Vos, T, Wang, C, Wang, X, Weiderpass, E, Werdecker, A, Wright, JL, Yang, YC, Yatsuya, H, Yoon, J, Yoon, SJ, Zhao, Y, Zhou, M, Zhu, S, Lopez, AD, Murray, CJ, Gakidou, E (2014). Global, regional, and national prevalence of overweight and obesity in children and adults during 1980–2013: a systematic analysis for the global burden of disease study 2013. Lancet 384, 766–781.Google Scholar
Ogden, CL, Carroll, MD, Kit, BK, Flegal, KM (2014). Prevalence of childhood and adult obesity in the United States, 2011–2012. Journal of the American Medical Association 311, 806–814.Google Scholar
Pike, KM, Hoek, HW, Dunne, PE (2014). Cultural trends and eating disorders. Current Opinion in Psychiatry 27, 436–442.Google Scholar
Russell, G (1979). Bulimia nervosa: an ominous variant of anorexia nervosa. Psychological Medicine 9, 429–448.Google Scholar
Schäfer, W, Kroneman, M, Boerma, W, van den Berg, M, Westert, G, Deville, W, van Ginneken, E (2010). The Netherlands: health system review. Health Systems in Transition 12, v-xxvii, 1–228.Google Scholar
Shepherd, E, Seale, C (2010). Eating disorders in the media: the changing nature of UK newspaper reports. European Eating Disorders Review 18, 486–495.Google Scholar
Smink, FR, van Hoeken, D, Hoek, HW (2012). Epidemiology of eating disorders: incidence, prevalence and mortality rates. Current Psychiatry Reports 14, 406–414.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Smink, FR, van Hoeken, D, Hoek, HW (2013). Epidemiology, course, and outcome of eating disorders. Current Opinion in Psychiatry 26, 543–548.Google Scholar
Smink, FR, van Hoeken, D, Oldehinkel, AJ, Hoek, HW (2014). Prevalence and severity of DSM-5 eating disorders in a community cohort of adolescents. International Journal of Eating Disorders 47, 610–619.Google Scholar
STATA (2013). Stata Statistical Software for Professionals: Release 13. StataCorp LP: College Station, TX.Google Scholar
Stice, E, Becker, CB, Yokum, S (2013). Eating disorder prevention: current evidence-base and future directions. International Journal of Eating Disorders 46, 478–485.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Theander, S (2002). Literature on eating disorders during 40 years: increasing number of papers, emergence of bulimia nervosa. European Eating Disorders Review 10, 386–398.Google Scholar
Treasure, J, Claudino, AM, Zucker, N (2010). Eating disorders. Lancet 375, 583–593.Google Scholar
Treasure, JL, Owen, JB (1997). Intriguing links between animal behavior and anorexia nervosa. International Journal of Eating Disorders 21, 307–311.Google Scholar
Turnbull, S, Ward, A, Treasure, J, Jick, H, Derby, L (1996). The demand for eating disorder care. An epidemiological study using the general practice research database. British Journal of Psychiatry 169, 705–712.Google Scholar
van Son, GE, van Hoeken, D, Bartelds, AI, van Furth, EF, Hoek, HW (2006 a). Time trends in the incidence of eating disorders: a primary care study in the Netherlands. International Journal of Eating Disorders 39, 565–569.Google Scholar
van Son, GE, van Hoeken, D, Bartelds, AI, van Furth, EF, Hoek, HW (2006 b). Urbanisation and the incidence of eating disorders. British Journal of Psychiatry 189, 562–563.Google Scholar
Walsh, BT (2013). The enigmatic persistence of anorexia nervosa. American Journal of Psychiatry 170, 477–484.Google Scholar
Williams, P, King, M (1987). The ‘epidemic’ of anorexia nervosa: another medical myth? Lancet 1, 205–207.Google Scholar