Two eating disorders in Jamaica

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVES: The aims were to assess the public health importance of anorexia nervosa (AN) and bulimina nervosa (BN) in Jamaica, the diagnostic criteria used and their correlates. METHODS: Information was collected from hospital records and from a survey of health professionals. Hospital records from the University Hospital of the West Indies (UHWI) from 1985 to 1998 were searched and all cases that included a diagnosis An or Bn were noted. A questionnaire was given to psychiatrists, clinical psychologists, paediatricians and nutritionists/dietitians requesting information of all An or Bn cases seen between 1996 and 1998, including gender, age, residence, weight, height, occupation, martial status, educational attainment and weight control activity. RESULTS: Only two cases of An were admitted to UHWI during the period studied. Eleven cases of An and 11 cases of BN (only two males) were seen by the health professionals (primarily psychiatrists). DSM-IV was specified as the diagnostic criterion used by the psychiatrists. The mean age of the anorexic patients was 20.9 years (range 14-28 years) and of the bulimic patients was 22.2 years (range 11-35 years). Cases occurred primarily among urban dwellers (76 percent) and 50 percent of the cases were among students. Limiting food intake, excessive exercise and vomiting were the most frequently used methods of weight control. Nine eating disorder patients (40.9 percent) were also diagnosed with depression and 5 (22 percent) patients reported previous emotional trauma. CONCLUSION: The reported incidence of the eating disorders is very low, but the characteristics of the patients seen were similar those in industrialised countries.(Au)