[Assessment instruments for bulimia]

Systematic assessment of bulimia, alike the clinical definition of the disorder, is still meager and lacks reliability. Development of new evaluation instruments is the focus of many current researches. This article will distinguish: rating scales specific of bulimia, for screening in epidemiological surveys and clinical practice, as well as for measure of the severity of the symptoms; structured interviews for evaluation of bulimic patients, for clinical and research use; eating disorders rating scales, already used for anorexia nervosa; other rating scales of interest with bulimic patients; and more possible evaluation methods. Finally, we will review assessment measures for use in treatment studies of bulimia.