The prevalence of binge-eating and bulimia in 1063 college students

We used a purpose-designed questionnaire to survey the prevalence of binge-eating and bulimia in a sample of 1063 Dublin third-level students aged 17-25 yr. There were 361 males and 701 females. The questionnaire was based on DSM-III, and included a written definition of a binge and cross-check questions. Although 17.7% of males and 37% of females claimed to have had an eating binge, cross-check items reduced this to 1.1% of males and 10.8% of females who met the DSM-III definition. No male and only 7.7% of females also met the behavioural criteria under item B of DSM-III, and only 5% of females reported dysphoric mood. Excluding those experiencing fewer than one episode per week gave a prevalence of 2.8% in females and 0% on males. Previously-reported prevalences using questionnaire may be inflated due to poor respondent understanding of the psychiatric terms being used.